AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
BALNEOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF THERMOMINERAL, THERMAL AND MINERAL
WATERS AT THE REGION OF ILIDZA- SARAJEVO AND ITS IMPACT ON TOURISM
a
LEJLA
ŽUNIĆ,
b
AIDA BIDŽAN-
GEKIĆ,
c
HARIS GEKIĆ
Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, University of
Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
email:
a
pmflejlazunic@yahoo.com,
b
aidabidzan@gmail.com,
c
hgekic@gmail.com
Abstract: The primary purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate the
thermomineral, thermal and mineral water sources in the region Ilidza- Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina that are used in balneology. The objectives of this study were
to: 1) anaylize specific geographic and tourism features of Sarajevo and the region of
Ilidza; 2) present the genesis of thermomineral, thermal and mineral waters in the
region; 3) analyse the content- physical and chemical characteristics of the observed
waters; 4) classify medicinal waters according 2 basic balenological indicators: TDS
and temperature using the contemporary models; 5) identify the hotels with health spa
centres and balneology indications. The study found that Ilidza region is wealth with
thermal, thermomineral and mineral waters, while the most valuable is Terma, the
highly thermal spring; it’s also the hottest spot of thermal water at the national level.
Thermal waters have been exploited since Roman period in Bosnia and they are
nowadays used within the luxury and superior hotels with spa programs for the health
tourism. This study provided balneological and tourism value of thermal,
thermomineral and mineral waters and their impact on the destination development.
Keywords: thermomineral, thermal and mineral waters, the content, balneological
indicators, health tourism, destination development.
1 Introduction
Thermal, thermineral and mineral waters of Sarajevo have been
used in balneology since Roman period in Bosnia and
Herzegovina (I cent.). The waters were found at the
hydrogeothermal region of Ilidza, which is located at southwest
of Sarajevo destination. Sarajevo as a tourism destination can be
presented as the area of 5 urban municipalities (Stari Grad,
Centar, Novo Sarajevo, Novi Grad, Ilidza) with the majority of
tourist infrastructure. The region of Ilidza is famous because of
the thermomineral water with the highest temperature in the
country. Therefore, Ilidza consist many luxurious and superior
hotels with spa program and medical spa centre specialized in
balneology. Vukajlija (1980) defines balneology (lat. balneum)
as the science of mineral waters that are used for the health
program- drink and bath. Balneology is the study of medicinal
springs and the therapeutic effects of bathing in them (Oxford).
Cvorovic (1976) stated that balenological tourism is one of the
oldest in the world. Bathing at thermal and thermomineral water,
drinking it or inhaling with its vapour on their sources is the
therapeutic method old same as the human civilization. Using
the thermomineral water for bathing existing since Roman
period in Bosnia and Herzegovina and it resulted in building the
first settlement known as “Aqua S” at the region of Ilidza
(turkish “iladz”: spa, cure), Sarajevo (II cent.). The first medical
spa centre (Terma) was created during Ottoman period in Bosnia
(XVII cent.; the first written sources of spa centre Ilidza come
from 1626 year) and it was renovated during Austro-Hungarian
period (XIX-XX cent.) when the balneological tourism was
blooming, while it was obstructed during the war (1992-1995),
but since 2004 it works with full capacity. Therefore, it was
necessary to apply the contemporary models of classification
medicinal waters and to present physical and chemical
characteristics of specific/ observed waters at Ilidza, as well as
its balneological indications. This region is mostly recognized by
sulphurous thermomineral waters which smell and vapour give a
specific note to the environment. The positive trend in tourism of
Sarajevo over the last decade was followed with increased
interest in spa hotels, while the region of Ilidza was preceded in
the number of arrivals and overnight.
2 Methodology
There was used a several classificational models to identify and
categorize thermomineral, thermal and mineral waters as
medicinal waters used in balneology or the health tourism.
Models were mostly based on the physical and chemical
indicators: total mineralisation, dominant anion or cation, and
the temperature (ºC), as well as the contemporary standards for
balneological use and treatment. The criteria of mineralisation
and temperature enabled divison of underground waters at 4
sections: thermomineral, mineral, thermal and fresh waters
(Skopljak, 2006), while the first 3 was the subject of matter.
There were applied 3 different criteria for classification of
medicinal waters based on their chemical characteristics: a)
chemical-
physiological (Komatina, 2004), b) total
mineralisation (TDS), and c) mineral content (Jonker, 2016) to
identify the type of sources at the observed region. For the
classification medicinal waters based on their physical
characteristics- temperature, 5 criteria of different authors were
introduced and applied (Vintras, 1883; Djerkovic, 1971;
Komatina, 2004; Spahic, 2005; Karagüle, 2014) to identify and
valorisate balneological value of thermomineral waters. The
terrain (Ilidza) was visited to observe the existence of tourism
capacities and to identify hotels with the spa program, while the
informal interview was conducted between the tourists who had
their outdoor activites but they generaly stayed at some of the
Ilidza hotels, while there were also helpful the previous related
findings of corresponding author (Zunic, 2018). The tourism
development of Ilidza was measured thrue the statistical
indicators (growth of the number of arrivals and overnight
stays), while the analysis of the hotel’s program and the Ilidza
municipality tourism offer resulted in presenting the correlation
of tourist interest and health spa centres.
Table 1: Water classification according to Skopljak (2006)
Mineralisation
(TDS mg/l)
Temperature
(ºC)
Thermomineral
water
>1000
>12
Thermal water
<1000
>12
Mineral water
>1000
<12
Fresh water
<1000
<12
(Source: Skopljak, 2006)
Table 2: Chemical classification of medicine waters based on
their physiological properties according to Komatina (2004)
Type
Mineralisation
(g/l)
Use
Waters elevated
mineralisation
1-5 g/l
Consumed
drinking
Waters medium
mineralisation
5-15 g/l
Suitable for
balneology Take in
as medicine
Waters high
mineralisation
15-35 g/l
Exclusively for
bathing purpose
Brines
35-150 g/l
Exclusively for
bathing purpose
(Source: Komatina, 2004)
Table 3: Classification of medicinal waters total mineralization
according to Jonker (2016)
Type of water
Total dissolved solids
(TDS)
Akrato/ Simple thermal water
<1000 mg/l
Oligo-metalliques
700-1000 mg/l
Highly mineral waters
>1000 mg/l
(Source: Jonker, 2016)
Table 4: Classification of medicinal waters mineral content
according to Jonker (2016)
Type
Calculated as
Criteria
Alkaline (Na-K-
bicarbonated)
waters
Concentration g/l
≥ 1 g/l total
dissolved solid,
dominant anion:
HCO3
Alkaline (Ca-Mg-
bicarbonated)
waters
Concentration g/l
≥ 1 g/l total
dissolved solid,
dominant
cations: Ca, Mg
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