Toxicology of the Rivers in Macedonia

Под патронажа на министъра на икономиката и енергетиката Петър Димитров Организационен комитет Почетен председател: Георги Божинов – Председател на ПК по околната среда и водите Председател: проф. Петър Гецов – Директор на ИКИ - БАН Научен секретар: проф. дтн Гаро Мардиросян – ИКИ - БАН Членове: маг. инж. Иван Марков – Изп. Директор на мини „Марица изток” проф. д-р Иван Милев – Ректор на МГУ „Ив. Рилски” доц. д-р Сергей Игнатов – Ректор на НБУ Нончо Воденичаров – Кмет на гр. Раднево н.с. инж. Георги Желев – ИКИ - БАН маг. инж. Маргарита Червеняшка – ИКИ - БАН маг. фил. Цвета Среброва – ИКИ - БАН маг. икон. Инна Ценова – ИКИ - БАН маг. хим. Мария Стоянова – ИКИ - БАН Научно-програмен комитет Председател: проф. дтн Никола Колев Членове: доц. д-р Ботьо Захаринов – НБУ ст.н.с. д-р Бойко Рангелов – Геофизичен институт на БАН проф. дбн Байко Байков – НБУ маг. инж. Евгения Караджова – Президент на ЕСРИ България н.с. инж. Любомира Кралева – ИКИ - БАН Официални езици български, руски, английски Такса за правоучастие за български участници – 50 лв. за чуждестранни участници – 50 евро студенти и редовни докторанти участват без такса Таксата за правоучастие включва: Програма, Сборник с пълния текст на докладите, Тържествена вечеря и Кафе-паузи Институт за космически изследвания при Българска академия на науките Нов български университет Институт по почвознание „Н. Пушкаров” Мини „Марица изток” ЕАД Минно-геоложки университет „Ив. Рилски” ЕСРИ България TOXICOLOGY OF THE RIVERS IN MACEDONIA Stojan Velkoski, Georgi Kotevski Institute “GAPE” – Skopje, R. Macedonia e-mail: [email protected] Keywords: Waste, river pollution, protection, Macedonia Abstract: Water is one of the basic raw materials provided by the Earth, the absence of which makes life impossible. What we are witnessing at the moment is increased water pollution by chemical, organic, radioactive and other pollutants. In Macedonia, there is a serious problem created by the dumping of wastewater in rivers and the opening of landfills for solid and liquid waste. Introduction More than 25 depots have been built in the Republic of Macedonia (see table 1). The only modern depots that are properly designed is Drisla in Skopje. Unfortunately, they are below environmental standards and thus pose a potential environmental hazard. They are usually built on alluvial or karst soil, which creates the danger of groundwater pollution through the migration of soluble components. Utility waste includes the following: 25% ash and construction waste, 24% paper, 20% wood waste, 11% plastic, 4% glass and porcelain, 4% textile and leather, 3% metal and 8% others types of waste. In small towns and villages, waste is disposed of in various areas, and are not well organized. Such areas include even Mavrovo and Galicica National Parks. It often happens that the waste ends up on the shores of lakes, rivers and shores, polluting all these waters. Potentially the most dangerous depots are; Vardarishte in Skopje, as well as the depots in Berovo, Pehchevo, Tetovo, Gostivar, Ohrid, Mavrovo, Struga and others (Fig. 1). Figure 1. Open solid waste landfill Material and methods The procedure of using part of the waste is an element of the modern lifestyle. By this procedure, the effects are beneficial not only for the reduction of waste and its processing into something useful but also on nature and natural resources. The percentage of waste paper and packaging in the total amount of communal and industrial waste is 20% - 25%. The beneficial effects of re-using this paper are various. This waste paper contains cellulose fibre which is necessary as a raw material in the industry, and which is obtained from wood. This indirectly reduces the necessity of cutting the forests. It also helps reduce the processing of wood cellulose which is detrimental to the waters, whereby the condition of water currents is improved. The amount of paper and paper products produced in Macedonia on an annual level is 70 – 75 tons. The total amount of waste paper which can be collected in Macedonia on an annual basis is 46,000 tons, whereof: 6,000 tons (12.25%) from industry 8,000 tons (16,32%) from trade; 10,000 tons (20,41%) from households, 12,000 tons (30,61%) from depots, 10,000 tons (20,41%) from printing offices and computer centres. On the other hand, the company which deals with collecting waste paper, Jugosurovina, collects the average amount of 16,000 tons of paper out of the total quantities of waste paper, of which 8,000 tons are collected in Skopje. Table 1. Official waste depots in Macedonia Distance from the Deposed quantities Industrial waste Urban environment towns (in km) (m3/day) (m3/day) Skopje 15 1500 400 Ohrid 25 335 63 Tetovo 3 330 90 Kumanovo 9 300 50 Kocani 6 290 80 Bitola 17 250 80 Veles 228 75 19 Stip 210 40 20 Gostivar 4 175 35 Gevgelija 5 160 100 Negotino 6 150 - Prilep 13 120 100 Kavadarci 4 110 30 Struga 5 100 30 Vinica 2 76 6 Strumica 15 65 20 Resen 35 3 30 Probistip 3 34 3,5 Krusevo 0,5 28 9 Star Dojran 12 25 1 Bogdanci 3 20 5 Kratovo 11 16 6 Makedonski Brod 4 16 6 Valandovo 5 12 - Demir Hisar 20 11 6 Blood waste Blood as a side product of slaughtering domestic animals for the needs of the meat industry in Macedonia is waste. The treatment of this type of waste seriously endangers the environment, while, on the other hand, hundreds of tons of potentially protein food are lost. Thus, the number of animals slaughtered in Macedonia per year is the following: 1 million sheep, 200,000 swine and 75,000 of cattle. Thus, the roughly calculated quantity of the total blood waste in the Republic of Macedonia amounts 2,800 tons. Taking into account the fact that proteins participate with 20% in the content of the domestic animals’ blood, it can be concluded that around 600 tons of pure proteins are wasted. Solution: it is necessary to process this waste and to use it as cattle food. The methods of processing are numerous and they depend on the products that we want to obtain. The effects of this are various: enormous finances which would otherwise be used for the maintenance of the wastewater purification systems in the industrial slaughterhouses are saved, the surface waters are protected against pollution and additional financial benefits are created by the processing of the blood waste. Open depots pose a danger to underground waters The quality of the water is observed on 60 metering points by the Hydro-meteorological Institute. The number of monitored parameters is 29 and the water is classified into four categories. The most frequent pollutants of the surface waters are the unpurified communal and industrial waters. The most polluting cities are: Gostivar, Tetovo, Kumanovo, Skopje, Veles, Stip, Negotino, Demir Kapija and Gevgelija as well as 132 industrial plants. Most of these cities use open depots for disposal of solid waste (Figure 1, which are exposed to rains and snowfalls which further pollute the rivers, the accumulations and the underground waters можат лесно да бидата загадени од отворените депонии (see Fig.2). Figure 2. Process of pollution of the urban waters by improper depots This is the reason why certain metals, like chrome, iron, cadmium, plumb and zinc are found in the rivers of Vardar downstream from Jegunovce, the Bistrica, the Lepenec, the Pcinja, the Kumanovska Reka, the Bregalnica downstream from Krupiste and the Zletovska Reka. But, the performance of the industrial capacities is reduced which reduces the pollution of the waters to the minimum as well. The quality of the water is still bad in some rivers, due to the represents of impurities from wastewaters and hard metals as in the case with the river of the Bregalnica. In Macedonia, the increased quantity of potable water originates from unpolluted mountain springs. But the suburb waters are often polluted with bacteria, ammoniac and nitrate. Toxins have been identified in the waters of the Skopje valley. The dumping of animal waste is also a source of water pollution, which is especially striking in the northern part of Macedonia. The released waste originates from farms, slaughterhouses, factories which produce milk and meat products as well as tinned food. The rivers into which this waste is mostly dumped are the Bregalnica, the Pcinja, the Mavrovica, the Zletovska Reka, the Berovska Reka and others. Especially dangerous is the waste dumped by metallurgy and chemical industry. It must be taken into consideration that only metallurgy and mining industry uses around 21 million cubic meters of water, of which only 53% are purified. Furthermore, only 6% of the total industrial wastewater, in the quantity of 420 million cubic meters are purified. This explains the fact that a great part of the waters is polluted. The purification itself is carried out by obsolete, inefficient technology and in only a few purification stations (тable 2). Unpurified sewage waste can be found in the rivers of the Dragor, downstream from Bitola, the Kumanovska Reka downstream from Kumanovo, the Crna Reka downstream from Bitola, the Kiselicka Reka downstream from Probistip, the Oslomeska and the Zajaska Reka downstream from Kicevo, the Vardar downstream from Tetovo, Skopje, Veles, as well as the Bregalnica after Kocani, the Pcinja after Kumanovo the Crna Reka and the Dragor after Bitola, the Zletovska Reka after Zletovo and Probistip. The main polluters there are the city sewage system, the substandard depots and the industrial capacities. Table 2. Influence of industry (in 1000 m3) Industry branch Purified Unpurified Percentage of purified % Electric power industry 10.1 236.4 5 Metallurgy 10.3 61.3 14 Mining 2.5 3.2 44 Others 3.6 92.4 3 Total 26.5 393 66 Protection should include land, water and air, as groundwater pollution comes from all three sides (Fig.

Load more