Quality Assessment of Water Resources of River in Poland

Abstract

The chapter presents an assessment of water quality in Polish rivers as examined in 2010–2015 under the State Environmental Monitoring Programme. Using selected averaged physicochemical indicator values, an analysis was made of the spatial variability of mineral pollution (SEC, Total hardness), organic pollution (BOD₅, TOC) and biogenic pollution (TN and TP) in the rivers of the catchments and subcatchments of the Vistula, the Odra, and the Baltic Sea. Graded indexation of six quality characteristics (SEC, Total hardness, BOD₅, TOC, TN, TP) characterising particular types of pollution has shown that there are rivers with high levels of pollution in catchments in Wielkopolska, Kujawia and Górny Śląsk. There are very low and low levels of pollution in mountain and foothill rivers of the Carpathians and Sudetes, and in the Pomorze region of northern Poland. The longest rivers in Poland (the Vistula and the Oder) and their main tributaries have different water qualities that vary along their courses. Due to heavily mineralised drainage waters from bituminous coal mines in Górny Śląsk, the upper sections of the Vistula and Odra exceed norms in terms of mineral substances, in particular, chloride and sulphate ions. In over 63% of river Surface Water Bodies (SWBs) surveyed in 2010–2015 in Poland, the quality of water in terms of physicochemical characteristics correspond to class I and II standards according to the Water Framework Directive in force in Poland. The physicochemical state of the rivers does not correlate with their biological state. Only 36% of the surveyed river SWBs met the class I and II standards for biological elements. In terms of physicochemical and biological water quality, only 28% of the analysed Polish river SWBs are classified as being in a good or very good ecological state in 2010–2015.