Water quality unaffected after toxic slick reaches Romania
0 
The toxic slick from Hungary Tuesday reached the Romanian section of the Danube, but it had not affected the water quality, the Romanian authorities said.
The National Administration for Romanian Watersa released the information after processing the latest water samples in laboratory.
The specialists would continue to monitor the general physicochemical indicators as well as hard metal content, it said.
Under a pre-arranged plan, chemical-biological tests are conducted every four hours, while the pH level of the Danube is checked every three hours.
The Danube's flow in the Bazias section, where the Danube enters Romania in the country's south-west, was 5,800 m/s, and the pH value was 7.73, according to the National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management.
Millions of gallons of red mud, a bauxite residue, from an alumina facility broke through a containing barrier early last week in western Hungary, dousing the tiny hamlet of Kolontar and the neighboring village Devecser with millions of gallons of caustic liquid, and killing at least eight.
The red mud contains heavy metals that are highly toxic. Hundreds of tons of plaster are being used to bind the toxic mud, and military helicopters have been pouring neutralizing materials into the waterway from the air.
The accident has caused concern in the Danube riverside states, which are alarmed by possible vast contamination.
