Characteristics of the spatial distribution of pollutants in the Shkumbin River, using the Inverse Distance Weighting Method

Abstract

The Shkumbin River is one of the largest in the country, with a length of 181 km, a catchmentarea of 2444 km2, and an average height of its sources of 753 m. For the specificity of the ShkumbinRiver and the importance of the use of its waters, it is necessary to continuously study the level of waterquality and the level of pollution, especially in its lower reaches, where agricultural and urban activitiesare concentrated and industrial.The study was carried out in the period 2021–2022, in the Shkumbin River watershed, and eight stationswere selected as representative points of the main stream of the Shkumbin River. In the context ofindustrial and urban development, the preservation of the natural environment takes on specialimportance. The solution to this problem requires the hydrochemical study of water sources, which isnecessary for the control of their condition, and the study of compounds and polluting phenomena. Inorder to study the distribution of organic pollutants and heavy metals and obtain pollutant distributionpictures using the ArcGIS system, the Inverse Distance Weighting Method was used.