MINERALIZATION OF THE RIVER MERTVOVID WATER AS AN INDICATOR OF ITS TARGET USING

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the field and laboratory studies of the Mertvovid river basin water hydrochemical regime. The Mertvovid River basin territory belongs to the cracked water hydrogeological region of the Ukrainian Shield zone, which causes the general high mineralization of the surface and groundwaters in this area. The indicators of the river water mineralization are 2 – 4 times higher than the average levels of the Southern Bug River water mineralization. These factors cause an acute problem of drinking water supply to the population of the north-eastern part of the Mykolayiv region. There are not enough surface and groundwaters reserves in this area. The relevence of the study is due to the problem of household-drinking water supply in the north-eastern regions of the Mykolayiv region, which is complicated by the climatic instability of the recent years. Lack of quality fresh water contributes to the disappearance of settlements, deteriorating the conditions for the irrigated agriculture development and fish farming, sanitary and hygienic conditions of the environment. The salt composition of the Mertvovid River water was analyzed, and this water suitability for irrigation purposes was assessed.The source materials are the data from the laboratory studies of the water samples salt composition of the Mertvovid River and its main tributaries, taken during the summer-autumn low water in 2020. For the River Mertvovid, as a whole, there is a tendency of increasing the total mineralization of the water and the salt composition components downstream – from the tributaries to the mouth. It is obtained that the water mineral composition depends on the geochemical background of the river valley rocks, soils, fl ow velocity, local evaporation volumes. General assessments of the salt composition of the Mertvovid River water in comparison with the MPC indicate an excess of the standards. With the general low water content of the Mertvovid River and its tributaries, the surface runoff has a signifi cant impact on the increase in this water mineralization. The infl uence of the waters brought by the tributaries of the Mertvovid River is also signifi cant. It should be noted that the water content of the tributaries, especially in the low water period, is almost identical to the water content of the main stream. In addition to water infl ows, the reservoirs, where the processes of thermal stratifi cation of the water column, deposition of heavy compounds and intensive evaporation from the surface take place, have a certain infl uence on the hydrochemical composition of the Mertvovid River. According to the level of water salinity, the Mertvovid River water is not suitable for drinking purposes. It is possible its using for irrigation carefully, taking into account the possibility of soils salinization.