Abstract
Chemical, physical and microbial analyses were conducted in
the Sarno River basin to obtain a comprehensive description
of the overall quality of the water bodies. The collection period
lasted 12 months, between 2005 and 2006, with high frequency
of sampling and analysis. More than 6,000 analytical determinations
were performed on samples collected at six sampling
points along the Sarno River and two points each on tributaries
Solofrana and Cavaiola. The results indicated the presence of
inorganic contaminants, which, in most cases, were below the
Italian State water quality thresholds. The organic contamination
showed an increasing trend, with respect to previous determinations,
thus demonstrating the major contribution of untreated
urban wastewater to the overall pollution of the river. Moreover,
this study was designed to explore the correlation between the
presence of microbial indicators of fecal contamination in Sarno
River and their presumable presence in the aerosol surrounding
the river, thus pointing to the possible environmental hazard
associated with the presence of pathogens in the air.
