STUDY OF GROUNDWATER QUALITY IN URBAN AREA OF ALBA IULIA, ROMANIA

Water is a vital resource and an important factor in the ecological balance. The quality of the well drinking water needs to be tested periodically in order to rule out possible contamination. The drinking water quality in Romania is regulated by Law No 458/2002 according to the EC Directive 98/83 on the quality of water intended for human consumption. However, active monitoring of such quality testing being conducted by private well owners is difficult to be accomplished. The purpose of our study was to check the quality of various water sources in the Alba Iulia urban area in order to detect specific impurities and to document local pollution sources and exposed areas. We found that the microbiological and chemical parameters we determined were outside the legal limits in some of the water sources examined. Variations of these parameters at some particular sources were observed over time. These results indicate a poor hygienic quality of certain water sources, indicating the need for permanent monitoring in order to identify possible contamination sources.