Chlorophenols in the Sava river before, in and after the Zagreb city area. Impact on the purity of the city ground and drinking waters

Abstract

The presence of 4‐chloro‐, 2,4‐dichloro‐, 2,4,5‐ and 2,4,6‐trichloro‐, 2,3,4,6‐tetrachloro‐and pentachlorophenol was investigated in samples of the Sava river collected upstream of the Zagreb city area, in the area downstream of it and in ground and drinking water samples from the city area. In almost all of the river water samples higher chlorinated phenols were detected, with pentachlorophenol present in highest concentrations, but not exceeding 160ng/L. The chlorophenol levels in ground water samples from wells 0.2–0.4 km from the river bed were comparable to those in the river. Their presence in the river water did not appear to have an effect on the purity of ground water from the wells about 2 km away from the river. The occurrence of chlorophenols in the city drinking water seems to be mainly a consequence of occasional contamination of the ground waters network by uncontrolled underground industrial waste discharge.