STUDIES ON THE COMPOSITION OF SURFACE WATER AND SPRING WATERS FROM THE VICINITY OF A COPPER MINING OPERATION

Due to the fact that water pollution with metals is one of the most serious pollutions, perhaps also from the perspective of action on organisms, the purpose of this paper was to analyze four water samples, two samples being groundwater (spring) and the other two being surface water, near a copper mining operation. The samples were organoleptically analyzed, their pH and alkalinity were determined, then copper and iron concentrations were determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. Surface waters, which come from the immediate vicinity of the plant, are richer in copper and iron, the concentration of metals being above the MAC (maximum admitted concentration). Samples that have been taken from groundwater have a concentration close to the MAC for each metal. It is thus observed that spring waters have not been contaminated with heavy metals from mining, whereas surface waters have higher concentrations of the two metals analyzed, exceeding the MACs.