Agroecological load on rural residential areas of Zhytomyr region as a factor of nitrogen content in drinking water

Abstract

The paper examined content of nitrogen compounds in drinking water in the sources of decentralized water supply in rural areas of Zhytomyr region and studied the dependence of their content on agroecological indicators such as the area of agricultural land owned and used by agricultural enterprises, the introduction of mineral and organic crops as well as livestock amount in the studied areas. The research was conducted in the new enlarged districts of Zhytomyr region. The analysis of drinking water for nitrogen content was carried out in the Measuring Laboratory of Polissya National University according to generally accepted methods, groundwater quality was determined by the total coefcient of complex pollution. It was established that in the territory of Berdychiv district during 2020 the largest amount of mineral fertilizers equal to 63719 centners was applied. The largest amount of organic fertilizers was used in the territory of Novograd-Volynsky district and amounted 32358 tons. The content of nitrogen containing compounds exceeded was recorded only for nitrates, and this trend was typical of all the studied areas. The situation was critical for Berdychiv district, where the average content of nitrates in drinking water was at the level of 129.8 mg/dm3, which exceeds the standard by 2.6 times. Groundwater, according to the coefcient of complex pollution, of all districts is quite clean. Strong correlations have been shown between nitrate content in drinking water and mineral and organic fertilizers, and weak correlations with the area of agricultural land used by farms and the number of cattle. Key words: area of agricultural lands, mineral and organic fertilizers, cattle population, drinking water, nitrates, nitrogen-containing compounds, rural settlements, correlations.