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In Romania, there are rural areas where the access to safe drinking water sources is still an unsolved issue. The main objective of the present study was to assess the quality of several underground drinking water sources from two rural communities from Romania and to evaluate the suitability of using those water sources in drinking and agricultural purposes. The investigated parameters were: pH, redox potential (Eh), electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), salinity, dissolved ions (F-, Cl-, Br-, NO2-, NO3-, PO4-3, SO4-2, Li+, Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+) and metals (Fe, Zn, Cr, Cu, Cd, Ni, Pb and Mn). The analyses indicated high levels of sulphates (up to 353.2 mg/l) in the wells from Cluj County and high concentrations of nitrates (up to 111.4 mg/l) and nitrites (up to 1.49 mg/l) in the wells from Bistrița-Năsăud County, these parameters frequently exceeded the safely limits imposed by national and international legislation. The levels of the other investigated parameters were generally below the maximum limits imposed by national and international legislation. Based on the sodium adsorption ratio, sodium percentage and magnesium adsorption ratio values, most of the investigated water sources can be safely used in agriculture purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 80 water samples were collected from several private wells (Sita Buzăului village - Covasna County) and public springs (Vatra Dornei area - Suceava County), during five sampling campaigns (November 2016, January - April 2017). The wells had a higher content of dissolved ions than the springs, while nickel was slightly higher in springs than in wells, due to the more acidic pH. The levels of the analyzed parameters were lower during January and February 2017 than in March 2017. Based on the water quality index, 75% of the investigated water sources can be classified as excellent quality status, 19% correspond to good status, while 6% have a poor water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to determinate the groundwater quality from 17 wells, 3 natural springs and 3 samples from a local distribution network. The samples were taken from Nadas village, located in Crisul Repede village, Cluj County. The area has a topography that consists in a valley surrounded by hills (500 - 700 meters high). The main objective was to investigate physico-chemical parameters: pH, TDS, ORP, salinity and heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, Fe, Zn and Ni). Laboratory analyzes revealed that the waters sampled from well 7 exceeded the permissible limit imposed by US-EPA for TDS value (500 mg/L), wells 4 exceeded the salinity value imposed by US-EPA (0.2 ?), one well had a pH close to permissible limit (9.5), ORP had negative values (between -6.9 and - 143.5 mV), while the heavy metal content varied significantly, depending on the water sources and heavy metal type. Copper and cadmium were not detected in the analyzed water samples, but chromium had values between 1.36 - 40.21 µg/L, zinc between 11.19 -437.6 µg/L, iron increased levels in the wells samples from 10.77 µg/L to 99.90 µg/L, lead was identified in four wells (4.93 - 51.1 µg/L) and nickel ranged between 4.94 - 39.61 µg/L. Were registered significant differences between the water samples collected from wells, natural springs and water samples from the local distribution network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water Quality Index for assessment of drinking water sources from Medias Town, Sibiu County. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the drinking water sources quality from Medias Town, Sibiu County. In November 2013, 6 water samples were taken from different drinking water sources and each water sample was analysed to determinate physico-chemical parameters (using a portable multiparameter WTW 320i major ions (using DIONEX ICS1500 ion chromatograph and heavy metals (using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer model ZENIT 700 Analytik Jena). The investigated physico-chemical parameters were: temperature, salinity, electrical conductivity (EC), pH, total dissolved solids (TDS) and redox potential (ORP). The analysed major ions were: lithium (Li+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+), calcium (Ca2+), fluoride(F), chloride (Cl-), bromide (Br-), nitrite (NO2-), nitrate (NO3-), phosphate (PO43-) and sulphate (SO42-). The investigated heavy metals were: lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), cooper (Cu), iron (Fe), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) and arsenic (As). The Water Quality Index (WQI) was calculated using the analysed water quality parameters and it ranged from 76 (very poor water quality) to 375 (unsuitable for drinking). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]