Water quality assessment of sasthamcotta lake, Kollam, Kerala

Abstract

Sasthamcotta Lake is the largest natural fresh water lake in Kerala, known as “Queen of Lakes”. This lake is located in Kollam district between 9º 0′-9º 5′ N latitude and 76º 35′-76º 46′ E longitude at an elevation of 33m above MSL. This lake has an area of 373 ha and volume of 22.4 km 3 . It is one of the 26 sites in India included in the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance. The Sasthamcotta Lake is a drinking water source for about 700000 people lived in Kollam District and is also one of the major tourist attraction places. Inland navigation and fishing are the major economical based activities takes place in this lake. This lake is facing degradation due to anthropogenic activities such as directing human waste, soil erosion due to destruction of vegetation, construction activities etc leading to the deterioration of environmental quality as well as decrease in the surface area and depth. The present study was carried out to assess the physico chemical and biological quality of water in Sasthamcotta Lake. In this study 16 water quality parameters were analyzed for water samples collected from 27 sampling points. The results showed water quality deterioration during the months of November and December 2017 whereas in January and February 2018 slight improvement in water quality. An observation of present study helps to increase the effectiveness of management strategies to bringing back the originality of the lake.