ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN OSMAN SAGAR LAKE, HYDERABAD

Abstract

Hyderabad is called the Lake City of India because of the large number of   lakes located around the twin cities. However, with passing years the city has witnessed unplanned urbanization as well as an increased number of industries. The quality of the water of the Hyderabad lakes has gone down drastically due to irresponsible disposal of sewage and industrial waste into lake waters. The present work is focused on assessment of water quality of the Osman Sagar Lake. The assessment of water quality of the lake is done by analyzing the data about several parameters from the year 2016 to the year 2022. various important parameters are utilized in study such as DO, pH, Conductivity, BOD, Nitrates, Total coliforms, Fecal coliforms COD, Chlorides, sulfates, TDS, Sodium, Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity, and hardness. The quality of lake water is found to be unsuitable for drinking purpose according to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications for potable water (IS -10500: 2012). It has been found in studies that water of the lake is fairly contaminated for the existence of aquatic life. The finding of this study can be beneficial for the government to plan several strategies to prevent the further contamination. The studies can also be utilized as an input to develop the processes for cleaning of contaminated water as well as for the sustenance of  a balanced  aquatic ecosystem.