A survey of groundwater nitrate contamination resulted by research of domestic wells from Romania

Abstract

Drinking water quality is an actual and astringent problem and the presence of nitrate ions above limit value of 50 mg/L may produce methemoglobinemy and different types of cancer. Our study presents a general approach concerning nitrate levels in well water collected from different areas located in Romania. Analysis of 48 water samples collected from 4 wells at different sampling moments, from Fântânele village, Prahova County indicated that 31.25% of samples contain nitrate above 50 mg/L, the highest found value being 87.09 mg/L. Extreme values of nitrate, higher than 300 mg/L were reported for well water collected from Matca (Galati County), Săhăteni (Buzău County) and Clinceni (Ilfov County). Evaluation of drinking water quality collected from Măneciu-Ungureni, Prahova County during 6 sampling campaigns from 7 wells indicated values slightly above 50 mg/L in 5 samples. Analysis of 97 well water samples from 12 different places from Mureș County indicated exceeding of maximum admitted level in 4.12% of samples. The most affected areas are Sângeorgiu de Mureș and Cristești, where nitrate were above limit in 11/14 samples, respectively 21/30 samples.