IRON, MANGANESE, BARIUM, AND STRONTIUM CONCENTRATIONS IN LIWIEC RIVER WATER

Quality of surface waters is very important from the ecological and economical point of view. Utilization of these waters for consumption purposes and for particular sectors of the economy is possible after classifying the surface waters on the basis of quality parameters. Trace elements, namely heavy metals, are indices included in legal acts on classification of surface waters in Poland, therefore to determine their concentrations in waters is necessary. The paper presents results from studies upon iron, manganese, barium, and strontium concentrations in Liwiec river water expressed by arithmetic means and standard deviations. Water samples were collected every quarter in 2005-2007. Contents of Fe, Mn. Ba, and Sr (determined by means of ICP-AES) were lined up in the following sequence: Fe>Sr>Mn>Ba. Water of Liwiec river was classified on the basis of the results achieved in the present study. The quality class was determined by iron and manganese concentrations. No elevated barium and strontium contents were recorded. In the majority of samples (about 85%), the iron amount was lower than the limiting value for III class of surface water quality. Manganese concentrations allowed for classifying over 95% of samples to the III class, and almost half of the samples to I and II classes.