ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY OF SITNICA RIVER BY USING WATER QUALITY INDEX (WQI)

Abstract

The main goal of this work is to show water quality and impacts on Sitnica River.Based on the previous studies, the main cause of the deterioration of Sitnica River water quality is anthropogenic activities, including wastewater, industrial, and agricultural discharge.This paper presents the assessment of the Sitnica River water quality by applying the Canadian Water Quality Index (WQI) in 16 monitored parameters, such as water temperature, turbidity, electrical conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen and O 2 saturation, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, etc.The parameters were measured in spring, summer, and fall, at 10 monitoring stations in the Sitnica River flow, from the spring to its confluence with the Ibër River.Based on the results obtained according to WQI, Sitnica's water quality varies from WQI-46 to WQI-95.The average WQI for the whole measurement period has resulted to be 63.5, meaning that the water of Sitnica River belongs to the marginal category.This indicates that the river has poor quality due to the effect of pollutants from various sources.This confirms the urgent need to undertake serious actions in monitoring the river and in managing it properly.