Novi Sad is one of the major consumers of water in the Republic of Serbia. This is why the presence of safe and abundant sources of raw dringing water has been of utmost importance for this city which is expanding urbanistically and demografically. This paper presents major data related, above all, to the capacity of the present water sources in Novi Sad, as well as the results of the analyses considering the possibilities for the expansion of source capacity. Furthermore, the text considers the problem of numerous pollutants which have been polluting water sources and offers possible measures for their efficient protection.

The city of Novi Sad uses groundwater as drinking water source. For this purpose only water from Danube alluvium is used, and the water is abstracted at three sites. The Danube water and sediment quality in the zone of the drinking water sources is of great importance, as the river Danube recharge alluvial aquifer. The microbiological quality of these environments was monitored, in order to determine their influence on drinking water quality. The water characterization was carried out using sanitary and ecological microbiological parameters of Danube water and sediment.

This paper presents the data of sediment quality in the zone of three sources for water supply in Novi Sad, Serbia. The data indicate that the sediment in the area of these sources contain petroleum products (mineral oils) above the permissible concentrations. Only in one sample of sediment was detected DDT / DDD / DDE in the location of the source against the Strand wells RB-1 in a concentration which can specify as the maximum risk. The data indicate a significant anthropogenic influence of refinery waste water and urban waste water, motor boats in the marine (source Strand) and anchor of ships (source Petrovaradinska Ada) on the quality of sediment in these sources.