Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2019 number 4

A sanitary-microbiological assessment of the water quality in the small tributaries and the littoral zone of Lake Baikal within the area of the settlement of Listvyanka was made over the period from April 2015 to October 2016. The investigations were made in the upstream (of the boundaries of the settlement) and estuarine sections of the Bol’shaya Cheremshanka, Malaya Che remshanka, Kamenushka and Krestovka rivers. It was found that the water quality in the upstream sections of the rivers complied with the standard rates of water requirements imposed by the Russian Federation for the waters used for recreational purposes. The estuarine sections of the Bol’shaya Cheremshanka, Malaya Cheremshanka and Kamenushka showed significant concentra tions of fecal indicator bacteria. The waters of the Krestovka, the largest among the four rivers used in the study, generally complied with water quality standards. These data indicate that the rivers in this study are experiencing considerable fecal pollution. In the coastal waters from the estuarine areas of the lake itself, the concentrations of thermotolerant coliform bacteria and enterococci varied considerably and often exceeded the standard rates established in the Russian Federation, indicating input of fecal indica tor bacteria with the waters of the rivers flowing into Baikal. It was found that the water from the small rivers and from the estua rine areas of Baikal at the sampling locations is polluted by fecal indicator bacteria. Use of such a water without treatment poses an immediate threat to public health. It is concluded that in the settlement of Listvyanka there is a clear need for the construction of efficient treatment facilities for household waste water, because the flow of tourists to this area is growing rapidly and the buffer capacity of soils for adsorption of microorganisms is decreasing over time with an increase in anthropogenic load on the ecosystem.