Assessment of drinking water quality of Kopiliq village in Skenderaj, Kosovo

Abstract

It is known that groundwater is an indispensable element without which we cannot think of life on our planet. It is also known that around 50% of the world’s population uses drinking water sources to meet the existential needs. Increment of population, industrial development and environmental pollution in our globe, directly or indirectly, has not only impacted groundwater pollution, but has also contributed in reducing the amount of water needed to meet elementary needs of man and other living beings. Therefore, for humanity, proper monitoring of groundwater became a priority in order to identify pollution levels and prevention of potable water sources from eventual contamination. Although Kosovo has sufficient water reserves, in most villages in the absence of infrastructure, the rural population in most cases for the purpose of providing drinking water uses water wells and springs. For this very reason, we have assessed the quality of the water wells located in the central part of Kosovo, in the village Kopiliq of Skenderaj. To assess the water quality of these wells, we have set the monitoring network, based on five monitoring points (wells), determining the organoleptic, physico-chemical parameters and bacteriological characteristics. Obtained sample results were compared with the reference values of Directive 98/83/EC – for drinking water quality and some wells resulted in exceeding the reference values for nitrite, chloride and total dissolved solids (TDS) whereas all wells were highly contaminated with bacteria.

Keywords

• drinking water quality
• Kopiliq village
• monitoring points
• wells