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Rational and preservation utilization of water resources represents one of the main problems of the 21 st century. Water as a resource is a valued quantity, quality, and by location, where the quality is a condition of the water system, expressed through physical-chemical, chemical, and biological indicators. The important aspects taken into consideration when examining the top-priority problems of water quality are economic influence, the influence on human health, influence on the ecosystem, and influence of the geographic area, as well as duration of the influence [1]. Changes in the physico-chemical characteristics of water quality are influenced not only by anthropogenic factors, but also by combined interactive natural processes such as hydrological conditions, topography and lithology, climate, precipitation inputs, catchment area, tectonic and edaphic factors, erosion, weathering of crustal materials and bedrock geology, in combination with environmental influence [2]. It should be also taken into account that the Republic of Serbia is striving toward membership within the EU, and reaching good water quality represents an important challenge [3]. The most important legal framework within the European Union (EU), which regulates water policies, is the Water Framework Directive (WFD) [4].River systems play an important role in the sustainable development of the whole environment, especially when Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 24, No. 2 (2015), [555][556][557][558][559][560][561] Original Research AbstractThe Drina River is the biggest tributary of the Sava River, created by the merger of the Tara and Piva rivers at Šćepan Polje. The Drina represents the border between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Water quality index (WQI) is a numeric expression used to evaluate the quality of water bodies and make it more easily understood by managers. In this study, the water quality status and the spatial and temporal trends along the Drina were assessed through the application of seven WQI parameters, to an eight-year public database of environmental data . Water quality of the Drina is one of the significant factors taken into consideration in evaluation of sustainability of the development of this region and it is controlled by complex anthropogenic activities and natural factors. Values of pH grew steadily from CP1 to CP3, but on CP4 values of pH were lower (8.11) than on two previous control points (CP2 8.14 and CP3 8.16). O 2 saturation shows highest values at CP1 121.3%, while the lowest values were observed at CP3 101.8%. BOD 5 at all four CPs shows that water quality of the Drina can be classified as I class (< 2 mg/l). According to statistical data processing we can state that Drina water quality at all four control points allows for its exploitation.

This paper examines temporal and spatial variability and trends of annual and seasonal precipitation in Slovenia and their relationship with three atmospheric circulation patterns represented by their indices: North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAOi), Mediterranean Oscillation index (MOi) and Western Mediterranean Oscillation index (WeMOi). Data from 45 precipitation stations were used for the period 1963-2012. Mean annual precipitation varies from 736 mm in eastern Slovenia to 2,518 mm in northwestern Slovenia. A significant annual precipitation decrease (from −3% to −6% per decade) is observed in western Slovenia. Significant negative trends are observed in southwestern Slovenia in summer (from −4% to −10% per decade) and near the Adriatic coast in spring (from −6% to −10% per decade). Non-significant negative and positive trends are observed in winter and autumn, respectively. Results indicate significant correlations between winter precipitation and MOi (from −0.3 to −0.7), NAOi (from −0.3 to −0.6) and WeMOi (from 0.3 to 0.6). Significant WeMOi influence is observed in spring and autumn, while NAOi and MOi influence has not been detected. Annual precipitation and WeMOi are significantly correlated in central and eastern Slovenia, while significant NAOi and MOi influence is observed in western Slovenia (with the larger area covered by MOi influence).

This paper identifies the results of a questionnaire designed to measure service quality in spa hotels in the Republic of Serbia. Service quality was measured with a model based on the original SERVQUAL model. Due to the fact that many previous research papers have shown that SERVQUAL is insufficient to identify and measure all determinants of service quality in hospitality, the original SERVQUAL model has been slightly changed. Namely, this modified version of SERVQUAL was adjusted to measure a large number of tangible and intangible elements of the service quality in spa hotels. Based on the research results, seven dimensions of the service quality were identified: assurance, food and benefits, empathy, entertainment, recreation facilities and wellness, responsiveness and reliability. After applying the modified SERV-QUAL model, an Importance -Performance Analysis (IPA) was performed. By using an Importance -Performance Analysis (IPA), this paper examines the efficiency of hotel resources allocation and the possibility of designing management strategies to improve the quality of hotel service.