Assessment of water quality in Chilia – Bastroe area as part of a model, designed for wetland protection

The Romanian wetland protection represents a priority confirmed by the Ramsar Convention signed in 1971, which came into effect from 1975. In order to develop the monitoring capacity, assessment and capitalization of natural resources offered by Romanian wetlands a pilot model was developed and implemented in the Danube Delta region. An important component of the model represents the water quality from the studied area (Chilia-Bâstroe). Thus, water samples were collected from various points along Chilia-Bâstroe braches and their physical-chemical and biological quality parameters were determined. By comparing the obtained values with the thresholds imposed by Romanian standards, the results showed that the water can be ranked up to the fourth quality class, due to the high values of iron concentration.