Water is a renewable natural resource, but vulnerable and limited in terms of quantity and quality, which is why its exploitation must be done rationally, so as to ensure a complex recovery and a balanced distribution, depending on needs. The water management activity, which has as object the establishment and application of measures for rational use and control of water resources, quantitative and qualitative, is closely related to meeting the requirements of current legislation on exploitation and protection of water and aquatic ecosystems. In this context, the present paper presents a study carried out during 2019, having as the main objective the qualitative characterization of the Jiu River on the administrative territory of Dolj County (Romania). For this purpose, several water sampling campaigns (12, one for each month) from three control sections, established in partnership with the Jiu - Craiova Water Basin Administration, were carried out. The collected samples were analyzed in the analytical laboratory of the same institution and, on the basis of the obtained results, also considering the main existing sources of pollution, conclusions were drawn regarding the Jiu River water quality in the analyzed sector. Also, we applied an alternative control method whose purpose was to validate the initial conclusions.