The water quality of streams located in large urban agglomeration, case study of the SłuŻewiecki Stream

Abstract

The quality assessment of watercourse, located in a highly urbanized area was the goal of research. The SłuŻewiecki Stream, which flows in the southern part of the capital city of Warsaw is the subject of study. The aim of the research was to determine the tendency of the water quality changes in the SłuŻewiecki Stream, flowing in the highly urbanized area and being a sink of the non-point and industry sources of pollutions as well as the surface runoffs which comes from its catchment. The field research was conducted along the entire length of the stream in 2015 and 2016. The water samples were collected monthly from a depth to 20 cm. Water quality tests were carried out in accordance with the valid analytical methods. The obtained results point to poor water quality. Therefore it can be conducted that the development and use of the direct catchment is the one of main factors affecting the water quality in SłuŻewiecki Stream. The tributaries, often not inventoried, from built-up, populated areas, are the most polluted. Tributaries contain large amount of organic compounds and nutrients.