Ecological Monitoring of Danube water Quality in Budapest Region

Problem statement: Serious health problems and other economic costs related to water treatment, remediation and locating a new water supply, become an evidence of water pollution caused by human activities. The main problems of the Danube River basin are associated with nutrients, organic pollution and hazardous pollutants. The aim of the study is to assess the surface water of the Danube in Budapest for sustainability of human and environment health. Approach: The monitoring assessment of comparative studies was carried out in June of 1998, 2005 and 2010 using the Hungarian standard methods. The samples were collected in sterile dark bottles from three different zones in Budapest. Results: The results demonstrated that dissolved organic carbon content, nutrient pollution (total N and P), bacteriological parameters and chlorophyll-a content were higher in 2005 than in 1998 and 2010. The results indicated that the bacteriological assessments and bacterial populations were low in 1998 in comparison with the results of 2010. In 2005, investigations illustrate the high fecal pollution. The data showed no significant differences between temperature, pH and Electrical conductivity in 1998, 2005 and 2010. Conclusion/Recommendations: Monitoring of the water by physicochemical and bacteriological is essential to identify the aquatic ecosystem hazards. The relation between O₂ and Chl-a content of the samples, clearly shows that the cause of high dissolved O₂ content in the water lies in accelerated primary production. Enumerations of both total and fecal Coliforms are continuously growing during the investigation periods. These results suggested that bacteriological properties can be a specific indicator of fecal contamination and organic pollution. With large numbers of new chemical substances entering the river ecosystem, continuous monitoring systems for their detection will become increasingly important with respect to environmental effects they produce, in addition to other toxic effects. The challenges to continuous physical, chemical, biological and bacteriological monitoring will be immense.