Catalina ITICESCU, Lucian P. GEORGESCU & Catalina Maria TOPA
”Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, Faculty of Sciences and Environment, European Centre of Excellence for the Environment, Domneasca Street, no. 111, 800201, Romania; E-mails: catalina.iticescu@ugal.ro, lucian.georgescu@ugal.ro, catalina_topa@yahoo.com
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: lucian.georgescu@ugal.ro


ASSESSING THE DANUBE WATER QUALITY INDEX IN THE CITY OF GALATI, ROMANIA

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The present paper mainly aims at assessing the Danube water quality as regards its physicochemical parameters, as well as at monitoring the effect of the wastewater treatment plant activation in the city of Galati in 2012. The Principal Component Analyses (PCA) were made to mark out the correlations between the different parameters obtained in different seasons and in various sampling points, as well as the correlations between the physicochemical parameters and the WQI. In order to assess the Danube water quality, the following physicochemical parameters were taken into account: pH, BOD, COD, DO, P-PO₄^3-, N-total, N-NO₃^-, N-NO₂^-, N-NH₄⁺, SO₄^2-, Cl^-, Cr-total, Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺, Fe-total, Mn-total, Zn²⁺, As²⁺. The water samples were collected from 5 sampling points situated upstream, along and downstream the city of Galati for a period of 12 seasons, starting from the autumn of 2010 and continuing up to the summer of 2013. The water quality assessment was made according to the water quality index (WQI). The conclusions regarding the influence of the anthropogenic activity on water quality could be drawn by observing the water quality variations as conditioned by the sampling points and the nearby industrial or municipal sites. Given the fact that there were more monitoring points in the envisaged area, the water quality assessment was made by taken into consideration the data resulting from all the sampling points.