Control of Drinking Water from the Central Water Supply System of the City of Tetovo in terms of Physicо - Chemical Safety

Objectives: The objectives of this paper is an examination of the physical and chemical characteristics of drinking water from the central water supply facility in the city of Tetovo, which uses water from four Shara springs in order to evaluate its quality in accordance with the prescribed norms. Methods: hygienic safety of drinking water in the city is followed by an examination of 12 parameters of 22 samples per month, twice a week from 19 measuring stations in the city in a period of 01.01.2011-31.07.2013. From one measuring point, in average, are taken over 30 water samples. The temperature and the concentration of free chlorine measured in the field (in situ), while other parameters (color, smell, taste, turbidity, permanganate consumption, pH, electrical conductivity, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, chlorides and iron) are monitored in laboratory testing of water and food at PHI CPH Tetovo. Meanwhile, there are used accredited, ISO standard methods, as well as spectrophotometric HACH methods which are USEPA accepted. Results: Based on the analysis performed on a total of 860 samples, only 15 were defective samples or 1.74%. An analysis of all parameters is condacted for all measurement locations where the samples were taken, and their minimum, maximum and average values are represented graphically and in tables. Conclusion: According to the obtained results, the city water fully meets the norms in accordance with the legal regulations which include this city in one of the fewest that today drink pure, unprocessed, spring water.Keywords: quality, physico-chemical, water, urban water supply