Recent surveys of river Tisza (Serbia) have shown that class Oligochaeta is commonly present as dominant member of benthic macroinvertebrate community. Knowing the fact that this class is very good indicator of organic upload in aquatic ecosystem, in this paper it is used for saprobiological water quality assessment of middle and lower stream of river Tisza in summer of 2002, 2004 and 2005. Results presented as saprobiological indices, showed that water quality of river Tisza (Serbia) was alfa-mesosaprobioc (the third class) during research period.

The paper considers legal framework for the surface waters quality control as per our Regulation and Directive 75/440/EEC in terms of required quality of surface waters intended to be used for the drinking water production. Research has been done in eight accumulations designed for water supply in Serbia, and water quality index has been determined using WQI method during the period 2000-2004. The water quality in these accumulations was within the treshold values in relation to the required quality.

Microbiological and saprobiological characteristics of river Moraca and Skadar lake for period of 2004/2005 are done at localities: Pernica, Moraca estuary and Vranjina (Skadar Lake). The objective of the research is to establish quality of water of these aquatic ecosystems based on microbiological and saprobiological analyses, as well as, to show need for protection of these water ecosystems from permanent contaminations, mainly by sewage should be pointed out. Saprobiological index is determined based on Gulyas Pal, and Pantle Buck is used to determine saprobiological level.

One of the key issues related to the water quality in the Iron Gate reservoir is the pollution of the sediment. Sediment deposits retained in the Iron Gate reservoir originate from a wide river basin with more then 80 million inhabitants and highly developed municipal and industrial infrastructure. Besides mineral river sediment, various organic and inorganic matters entered and deposited within the Iron Gate reservoir. Sediment research objective was to assess the content of contaminants and nutrients which potentially could enter the water column.

During spring of 2005, referent monitoring of the chemical quality of surface waters and sediments in some protected areas in Vojvodina (Serbia) was conducted as a supplement to the Regular monitoring program. The aim of the study was to establish the chemical quality of surface waters and sediments regarding nutrient content. It is shown that the water quality satisfies the criteria of the 1st/2nd class according to our legislation, with the exception of the Ludos location, which showed a contamination with nitrogen matter in water and sediments. With regard to the contamination of water with phosphorus, almost all locations may be considered as potentially problematic.

Determination of total arsenic and As(III) was performed in untreated and treated water samples collected in some small water supply systems in Northern Backa district (Serbia). Concentration of total arsenic in treated water was between 71 and 115% of total arsenic in untreated water (0.001-0.168 mg As/cubic dm). In untreated water concentration of As(III) was between is less than 0.001 and 0.078 mg As/cubic dm. However, during the water treatment (chlorination process) As (III) concentration decreased significantly to the level of 1 to 2% of start concentration in untreated water. Influence of conservation water sample with HCl increased with consumption of KMnO4 on determination of As(III).

In this paper the results of the application of WQI method on Vojvodina main rivers and canals are shown. There were investigated 41 localities, from April 2002 to May 2003. There was observed high degree of correlation between the WQI values and the qualitative composition of the desmid community. Exceptions to that rule were noticed, since that WQI is not sufficient parameter of the water quality.

During 2005 the referent monitoring of the chemical quality of surface waters and sediments in Vojvodina was conducted as a supplement to the regular monitoring program in Vojvodina. It is concluded that the water quality mainly satisfies the criteria of the 1st/2nd class acccording to our legislation, but regarding the more stringent Canadian and Dutch water quality standards content of some micropollutants may be considered as potentially problematic. Sediment quality is mainly satisfying, with the exceptions of the DTD canal Vrbas-Bezdan monitoring station after Srbobran, which showed a slight contamination with PAHs, and the Sava-Sabac monitoring station, as the target values according to Dutch legislation were exceeded for DDT and its metabolites.

During the spring of 2005, the chemical quality of surface waters and sediments in selected protected areas of Vojvodina (Serbia) was monitored, as a part of the Referent monitoring of the chemical quality of surface waters in Vojvodina during 2005 project. This work presents the results of the referent monitoring and establishes the chemical quality of the surface waters and sediments, and identifies particularly polluted and threatened areas. It is shown that in terms of organic micropollutants content, the chemical quality of the water in the protected areas is in most cases satisfactory, except in the protected areas of Carska Bara, at the Stari Begej Wharf site, and Lake Ludos, where higher mineral oils concentrations were detected. Furthermore, the toluene concentration in Lake Ludos exceeded Canadian guidelines.

In the course of implementation of project Ecological Significance Evaluation of River Moravica Basin with Pollutants Identification, supported by REC and DRP, chemical and physical water analysis were done, as well as slime analysis. Heavy metals presence in water, herb Mentha aquatica and slime was analysed at six relevant locations downstream river Moravica. Heavy metals test results in slime and herb Mentha aquatica points out the presence of Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, with heavy metals concentration rise from spring to mouth of river Moravica to river Juzna Morava. Chemical and physical analysis of water content, and detection of heavy metals presence in herb Mentha aquatica - as bioindicator and in slime, shows on water contamination with heavy metals as the inflow result of waste waters from numerous polluters.