Water quality assessment of the Montenegrin part of the Lim river using the Serbian water quality index (SWQI)

Abstract

The paper analyzes the water quality of the Montenegrin part of the Lim River using the Serbian Water Quality Index (SWQI) method. This method uses ten physical, chemical, and microbiological parameters (temperature, pH value, electrical conductivity, oxygen saturation, BOD5 , suspended solids, total nitrogen oxides, orthophosphates, ammonium, coliform bacteria) and summarizes them in a water quality index number. Data from the Institute of Hydrometeorology and Seismology of Montenegro (IHMS) from the Annual Reports on Water Quality from 2010 to 2018 were used to assess water quality. The results of this research, according to SWQI, show that in the upper course of the Montenegrin part of the Lim, at the control stations Plav and Andrijevica, water has excellent quality. Downstream, passing through the urban areas of Berane and Bijelo Polje at the control stations Skakavac, Zaton, Bijelo Polje, Dobrakovo, the water quality enters the class of very good and good quality. The results of average SWQI values at all control stations for the research period of eight years indicate that the quality in the Montenegrin part of the Lim River can be classified as very good (87). The paper confirms the importance of the SWQI as a useful method for presenting water quality data despite its many advantages and disadvantages. In order to achieve relevant results and the actual ecological status of the river, it is necessary to apply the Water Quality Index (WQI), which includes inorganic parameters.