USE OF ACTIVE MICROORGANISM IN IMPROVING POND WATER QUALITY: CASE STUDY OF BEYTEPE POND

Water resources have been seriously polluted in terms of quality in the last hundred years, especially due to anthropogenic effects. The quality of the water in the storage structures (dam, lake, pond, etc.) has started to deteriorate due to the deterioration in the drainage basin, especially the insufficient feeding. In recent years, researches on the protection and improvement of the quality of water in storage structures have begun to increase. In this study, it was aimed to improve the water quality of Beytepe Pond located in the campus of the Turkish National Botanic Garden Directorate (TNBG) by using Active Microorganism (EM) in laboratory conditions. In the study, Baykal EM1, active microorganism, was used. For improvement water quality was used aerobic (A) and anaerobic (AN) systems in containers with a volume of 10 liters. EM was administered in 3 doses as 5, 10 and 20 ml L-1. pH, conductivity (EC), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and chlorophyll-a values were measured in the pond water. Beytepe Pond water is 3rd class according to the US salinity laboratory salinity classification (USSL). COD and chlorophyll-a values exceed eutrophication limit values. At the beginning of the study, the raw water COD value was measured as 263 mg L-1. It was determined that 5 ml L-1 EM application was reduced up to 2 mg L-1 in anaerobic system application. The same application provided the best improvement in chlorophyll-a values. As a result of the study, it was observed that the EM application provided an improvement in the quality of the Beytepe Pond water.