Evaluation of Seymareh Reservoir Water Quality by Bacterial Indices and relationship with some physical and chemical water parameters

Reservoirs are artificial lakes that have been created by humans for specific purposes. Water reservoirs has different uses which the most important are: municipal water supply, agricultural irrigation, aquaculture, power generation and etc. According to increasing of water demand the accurate study of water resources, determination of their pollutants, prevention, pollution control and optimal use of available water resources are required. Saymareh Dam is located about 40 km northwest of DARREH SHAHR in ILAM province. This dam was constructed with the aim of producing electric power, controlling and regulating of river floods. The aim of this study was to survey on the bacterial contamination of Seymareh Reservoir and its relationship to some water physical and chemical factors. According to the geographical and hydrological status of the reservoir, five stations (one station near the water entrance to the lake, 3 stations at the beginning of the lake, middle and near the crown, and one station after the reservoir) were sampled 8 months in 3 seasons of year for bacteriological, physical and chemical evaluation. Water quality standards for microbiological sampling were used. Then microbial tests including total bacterial count, total coliform count, fecal coliform and fecal streptococcus count were performed. In each station simultaneous measurements of some physical and chemical parameters of water (temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH) were also evaluated. The results showed that the highest total bacteria counted during sampling at station 5 (after reservoir) and the lowest rate at station 4 (before the reservoir's crown). Also the average of total and fecal coliform was the highest at station 5 in all sampling seasons and the lowest in station 2. The stations grouping in this three indices showed that the entrance and outlet stations of the reservoir (1 and 5) are in the same group and the stations located on the reservoir (2, 3 and 4) are in the other group that showed a significant difference (p<0.05).In the Pearson test, correlation between water temperature and pH changes with the number of total bacteria and fecal coliform was positive and with the total coliform was negative, while dissolved oxygen showed a negative correlation with three bacterial indexes. In comparison to the bacterial parameters with available aquaculture standards, the water of this reservoir is suitable for fish production in all seasons.