Community Perception of Water Quality in a Mining-Affected Area: A Case Study for the Certej Catchment in the Apuseni Mountains in Romania |
| |
Authors: | Diana Dogaru Jürg Zobrist Dan Balteanu Claudia Popescu Mihaela Sima Manouchehr Amini Hong Yang |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Human Geography, Institute of Geography of the Romanian Academy, D. Racovita Street, 12, 023993 Bucharest, Romania;(2) Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), überlandstrasse 133, P.O. Box 611, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland;(3) Department of Physical Geography, Institute of Geography of the Romanian Academy, D. Racovita Street, 12, 023993 Bucharest, Romania |
| |
Abstract: | Mining-contaminated sites and the affected communities at risk are important issues on the agenda of both researchers and
policy makers, particularly in the former communist block countries in Eastern Europe. Integrated analyses and expert based
assessments concerning mining affected areas are important in providing solid policy guidelines for environmental and social
risk management and mitigation. Based on a survey for 103 households conducted in a former mining site in the Certej Catchment
of the Apuseni Mountains, western Romania, this study assesses local communities’ perceptions on the quality of water in their
living area. Logistic regression was used to examine peoples’ perception on the quality of the main river water and of the
drinking water based on several predictors relating to social and economic conditions. The results from the perception analysis
were then compared with the measurements of heavy metal contamination of the main river and drinking water undertaken in the
same study area. The findings indicate that perception and measurement results for the water quality in the Certej Catchment
are convergent, suggesting an obvious risk that mining activities pose on the surface water. However, the perception on drinking
water quality was little predicted by the regression model and does not seem to be so much related to mining as to other explanatory
factors, such as special mineralogy of rock and soils or improper water treatment infrastructure, facts suggested by the measurements
of the contaminants. Discussion about the implications of these joint findings for risk mitigation policies completes this
article. |
| |
Keywords: | Community risk perception Mining pollution Water quality Western Romania |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|