Environmental Situation of Vlora Bay, Albania Based on Physico-Chemical Parameters of Seawater

Vlora Bay is one of the most attractive coastal zones of Albania, defined as a top-priority tourism area. It presents quite suitable conditions to accommodate vessels of various types. Human activities around Vlora Bay and port areas cause significant water pollution. Industrial wastewater and urban water overflow are traditional pollution sources of this area. This study was carried out to evaluate the environmental status and to assess the pollution level of Vlora bay. Two main ports, the Commercial Port and Fishing Ports, that are positioned in the bay, are subject to various and potential pollutants, i.e. boat and ship antifoulants, boat hull cleaning, oil and other releases and discharges from boats, wastewater discharges from municipalities and industrial facilities etc. In order to assess the water quality of Vlora Bay, water samples were collected from fourteen sampling sites (including the Commercial & Fishing Port, Vlora Bay and Narta and Orikumi Lagoon) and physico-chemical parameters of water such as temperature, pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), particulate material (TSS and TDS), nutrients (N-NO2 -, N-NO3 -, N-NH4 +, P-PO4 3-) were determined. Based on the results of physico-chemical parameters and nutrients content in the studied areas it was found that nutrients content was found at higher concentrations in both ports compared to the bay, but they were within the permitted levels of Seawater Quality.