Pollution of Heavy Metals in the White Drin River Basin

摘要

Dirty water is usually a significant factor for many diseases. In Kosovo, only 9% of freshwater was used for drinking, and the rest was used in agriculture and industry. The waste from industry and agriculture was the biggest polluter of water. In this study, pollution of heavy metals in the White Drin River Basin was evaluated. Some physicochemical parameters of water samples, such as pH value, electrical conductivity, alkalinity, hardness as well as concentrations of HCO_3 ~- and CO_3~(2-) were measured, and concentrations of nine elements in water samples were determined by ICP-MS technique. The concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Mn, As, Fe, Co and Ni were 4.05 - 22.2, 3.67 - 54.8, 2.81 - 35.1, 0.20 - 2.61, 1.60 - 38.2, 0.27 - 0.81, 22 - 77, 0.03 - 0.211 and 0.8 - 2.69 mg/L, respectively.