Sanitary-microbiological characteristics of the coastal zone of Lake Baikal during the seasonal change in the lake level in 2022

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the study of water quality by sanitary-microbiological characteristics in the littoral zone of Lake Baikal and its tributaries in July and September 2022. It was found that the number of studied bacteria does not correlate with the level of the lake, but is caused by the seasonal anthropogenic load. Exceedances of the standards in the summer period were detected in the area of Kultuk settlement, Baikalsk town, Listvyanka settlement, Bolshie Koty settlement, in the bays of Maloe More, Chivyrkuisky and Barguzinsky bays, and in the rivers Medlyanka, Pokhabikha, Pereyomnaya, Kuchelga, Turka, Barguzin, and in the hydrotherm of Zmeinaya Bay. In autumn, the quality of the surface water did not meet the norm near the settlement of Bolshoe Goloustnoe, in Aya Bay, in the bays Zagli and Chivyrkuisky, and in the mouths of the rivers Medlyanka, Pokhabikha, Slyudyanka, and Mysovka. In the tributaries where wastewater is discharged (Medlyanka, Pokhabikha and Mysovka), the number of sanitary-indicatory bacteria remains high both in the summer and autumn seasons.