A baseline assessment of water quality from private wells located in Constanta County and risk implications for community health

Abstract

The aim of the research was to evaluate the quality of drinking water from five private wells (W1 -W5) located in Negresti-Cobadin, Constanta County, Romania. The evaluation consisted in determination of some specific parameters as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total hardness (TH), ammonium, nitrate and nitrite concentrations and oxidisability index. The results were compared with quality standards for drinking water imposed by Council Directive 98/83/EC and also with Romanian legislation. The pH, EC, nitrite and ammonium levels for all water samples are within recommended ranges. The TH values are higher and range between 27.41 and 47.14 mg CaO/L. Concerning nitrate levels, it is noteworthy to mention that excepting W4 sampling point, all water samples exceeded (as average) maximum admitted level. Oxidisability parameter indicates for wells W1 -W4 values were below 5 mg O2/L, meanwhile in the case of W5 found value exceeded slightly limit value.