Water Quality Assessment of Anchar Lake, Srinagar, India

Abstract

The aim of this study was to ascertain the current condition of the Anchar lake water body in the Indian state of J&K in terms of water quality using some main parameters such as pH, TDS, EC, DO, and nitrates content. For the years 2019 and 2020, samples were obtained for two seasons: summer and winter. The quantitative analysis of the experimental results indicates a general increasing trend and considerable variance in nitrates content, as well as a gradual decrease in pH, indicating that the lake’s acidity is increasing, but only within the basicity range, with real values approaching neutrality: TDS and EC content suggest a very favorable situation, but when the overall parameters are tested, they show a defect. Since the sampling sites were well aerated, the dissolved oxygen content showed a growing pattern, and as a result, this metric proved to be useless in deciding the overall scenario in the lake. In the winter, the longitudinal trend line indicates a 10% decrease in pH, while in the summer, it shows a 4.4 percent decrease in pH. In winters, the longitudinal trend line reveals a 6.7 percent growth in nitrate content, while summers see a marginal decline. In the winter, the longitudinal trend line shows a 7% rise in dissolved oxygen, while in the summer, it shows a uniform trend.