Interdisciplinary Evaluation of the Săpânța River and Groundwater Quality: Linking Hydrological Data and Vegetative Bioindicators

This study was carried out to fill the present research gap in the study area by assessing water chemistry, potential heavy metal contamination, and the associated health risk evaluation that goes along with it in surface water bodies and groundwater in the NE of Maramureș County, near the Tisa River. The main methods we applied were Piper, Ficklin–Caboi, and Gibbs diagrams for determining the water typology and chemistry, the Overall Water Quality Index (OWQI) and vegetation cover to determine the water quality, a contamination index for analyzing the contamination degree, and a human health risk assessment through water ingestion after exposure of children and adults. This article’s main findings specify that waters were characterized and classified into the CaMgHCO3− dominant category of water type, with precipitation, agricultural, and domestic inputs, related to the Cl− (mean ranging between 1.01–5.65 mg/L) and NO3− (mean ranging between 2.23–5.52 mg/L) content. The OWQI scores indicated excellent quality, below the critical value, ranging between 0.70 and 6.57. The applied risk assessment indicated that the daily intake of toxins is higher in the case of children than in adults, up to four and five times. The hazard quotient scores, ranging between 0.00093 and 0.248 for adults and between 0.0039 and 1.040 for children, indicated that if consumed, the studied waters can pose potential negative effects on children.