MICROBIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF WATER QUALITY OF TWO CENTURY OLD LAKES, FROM JHANSI, BUNDELKHAND REGION

The microorganisms present in water cause harmful effects in human body. Supply of drinking water contaminated with sewage or other excreted matter from men and animals may cause intestinal infections, dysentery, hepatitis, typhoid fever, cholera, and other illnesses. The paper discusses results of microbiological analysis done on various water samples taken from two different century old lakes of Jhansi, Bundelkhand Region. This study carried out in the month of April-June (2013) for which two lakes were chosen i.e. Barua Sagar Lake, Antiya Tal Lake etc. The samples were first collected and then stored in water storages made up of different materials like earthen material, plastic container. The sample temperatures ranged from 17.5 - 23?C, pH from 7.32 ? 7.6, turbidity from 22.8-35 NTU, DO from 6.3 ? 10 mg/l, BOD from 2.4 - 4.25 mg/l, COD ranged from 40.2 - 55.8 mg/L, total alkalinity from 32-118 mg/l and total hardness from 220.5 ? 22.5 mg/L. All samples were positive for E. coli, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Citrobacter, Bacillus sps .which indicates fecal pollution of water. The results indicated that microbiological parameters of the water were effected by the anthropogenic activities and can be used for domestic, irrigation, agriculture and pisciculture after proper management.