Analysis of Surface Water Quality and Sediments Content on Danube Basin in Djerdap-Iron Gate Protected Areas

Abstract

As water is essential to life and is an indispensable resource for ecosystems and their services and for nearly all human activities, the goal of this research was to evaluate the surface water quality of the Danube as it passes through the Romania–Serbia border in the nature reservations Djerdap and Iron Gate. The study aimed to assess the oxygen regime, nutrients and heavy metals contamination of the surface waters of the Danube on a length of about 240 km, between Bazias and Iron Gate II. Reference sampling and analytical methods (UV-VIS and AAS) were deployed to reach this goal. In addition, sediments were analyzed through back scattered SEM-EDAX for the elemental analysis of the sediment surface. Results obtained show a low environmental impact of heavy metals, while the Danube’s oxygen regime is under stress due to nutrients’ (nitrites and orthophosphates) significant concentration in the Danube surface water in the analyzed sector. Our approach can be applied to other water bodies in the area, to increase available scientific data together with societal awareness of the Danube’s environmental risks