The impact of land use on the water quality of foothill microcatchment areas The impact of land use on the water quality of foothill microcatchment areas. In this paper a comparison is made between the impact of land use methods on the quality of water in the streams which drain various catchment areas. For this purpose three microcatchments were selected which are located in agricultural, rural settlements, and forested areas. Water samples were physically and chemically analysed in order to

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... termine: nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, phosphates, sulphates, chlorides, calcium, magnesium, dissolved oxygen, reaction and conductivity. The above studies were conducted in the 2006 and 2007. Our analysis of the collected materials allows us to affirm that land use methods have a significant impact on the water quality of the streams which drain the area. Rural settlement has the most negative influence on the water quality, followed by typical agricultural use. Based on the direct quality evaluations of single water samples, it has been found that only water from forested areas can be qualified as belonging to the 1st cleanness class.