Investigation of drinking water quality in Kosovo

In the recent years, not much environmental monitoring has been conducted in the territory of Kosovo. This study represents the first comprehensive monitoring of the drinking water situation throughout most of the territory of Kosovo. We present the distribution of major and minor trace elements in drinking water samples from Kosovo. During our study we collected 951 samples from four different sources: private-bored wells; naturally flowing artesian water; pumped-drilled wells; and public water sources (tap water). The randomly selected drinking water samples were investigated by routine water analyses using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) for 32 elements (Li, Be, B, Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Te, Ba, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, U). Even though there are set guidelines for elemental exposure in drinking water worldwide, in developing countries, such as Kosovo, the lack of monitoring drinking water continues to be an important health concern. This study reports the concentrations of major and minor elements in the drinking water in Kosovo. Additionally, we show the variation of the metal concentration within different sources. Of the 15 regulated elements, the following five elements: Mn, Fe, Al, Ni, As, and U were the elements which most often exceeded the guidelines set by the EU and/or WHO.