Variations in the physico-chemical properties of Dal Lake, Srinagar, Kashmir

Abstract

Basic physical and chemical characteristics of the water in Dal lake Srinagar were determined. Surface water was sampled on monthly basis from June 2010 to April 2011. To determine the variations in physico-chemical parameters of Dal lake, a total of 21 physico-chemical parameters from six different site spread in four basins of lake was monitored. Our findings highlighted the deterioration of water quality in the lake due to anthropogenic activity in the lake and urbanization. The lake can be considered as eutrophic as evidenced by its shallow depth (1 to 4.5 m), low transparency (1 to 2.8 m), and higher concentrations of other nutrients such as phosphates, nitrates, sulphates and chloride. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to identify the strength of relation between the variables. The significant correlation was found among the temperature, depth, alkalinity, calcium, ammonia, nitrate and total phosphorus. Cluster analysis was additionally performed to obtain similarity between the sites.

Key words: Physico-chemical characteristics, Dal lake, anthropogenic activity.