Level of Pollution of the Miljacka River

Abstract

Most pollution, according to the ecologists, comes from sewage waters from populated zones, industry, and illegal dumps. Environmentalists warn that any, even the smallest changes in the physical and chemical quality of water affects the organisms that live in it. Water resources, which define life on Earth and biodiversity, oblige us to be rational, and to take care of them. The dynamic development of society and the increasing pressure on the natural environment, and thus on water, are becoming one of the key issues of sustainable development, because water pollution in the ground and on the surface further affects the reduction of the water supply. The level of impact on water quality becomes higher as land uses intensify through the spectrum of agriculture, timber harvesting, housing, industry, and roads.

This research paper provides an overview of the analysis of water samples from the Miljacka river from ten different places in the city of Sarajevo from Bentbaša to the estuary of the river Miljacka. All analyzes were performed in the Laboratory for Chemistry of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food in Sarajevo and the laboratory EURO INSPEKT ltd. - “Real INSPECT” Sarajevo. Physicochemical parameters examined in this research work were: odor, taste, color, total hardness, turbidity (measured 9.61–39.81 NTU), pH value (6.6–7.15), consumption of KMnO4 (0.977–4.23 mg O₂/l), ammonia (1.76–2.83 mg N/I), nitrates (0.98–2.44 mg/l), nitrites, lead (3.60–6.24 µg/l) and mercury (0.10–0.60 µg/l). Based on the conducted research, we can conclude that the river Miljacka has a high content of nitrates, ammonia, mercury and inadequate turbidity. This may be due to anthropogenic activities such as municipal wastewater discharge, lack of infrastructure and environmental awareness of citizens.