Assessing the Contamination of the Dambovita River Through Heavy Metal Indices

Abstract

The continuous population growth, which leads to increased social and economic development, affects the quality and quantity of the freshwater resources, both directly through changes in landscapes and pollution caused by industrialization, urbanization, and agriculture, as well as indirectly through climate change pressures (such as higher air temperature, drought, frequent extreme precipitation events). Within this study, the heavy metal contamination of Dambovita River was assessed, as it is the main drinking water source for the city of Bucharest. Thus, surface water samples and sediments were collected from four sampling sites along the Dambovita River within two campaigns, in order to assess the seasonal fluctuations. The heavy metal pollution index (HPI) together with the metal index (MI) of the collected water samples were calculated for cadmium, nickel and lead, for each sampling site. Additionally, in order to establish the potential ecological risk index, the contamination factors and potential ecological risk factors were assessed considering each of the monitored heavy metals (Cd, Ni and Pb). The results showed that the HPI values were below the critical pollution index value of 100, along with MI values below 1. Also, the sediment analyses further confirmed that all the sampling sites can be classified with low to medium levels of potential ecological risk.