Vol. 9, Issue 1 (2020)

Author(s):
Krupa TL

Abstract:
The study was designed to assess the pond water quality of 100 fish farms in Wayanad district on seasonal basis from November 2017 to December 2019. Field survey was done by collecting the data from 100 fish farmers of Wayanad district regarding water source, fish farming experience, pond size, type of fish cultivated, problem faced by farmers. The water samples were analyzed for various physico-chemical characteristics like temperature (23.9-33.2°C), turbidity (0.13-90NTU), pH (4.9-11.6), salinity (0.01-0.74ppt), conductivity (38.2-747µS/cm), total dissolved solids (12.6-440ppm), dissolved oxygen (3.6-9.1ppm), total hardness (25-250ppm), fluoride (0-0.5ppm), chloride (10-100ppm), ammonia (0-1.5ppm), nitrate (45-100ppm) and absence of iron and residual chlorine. Bacteriological analysis revealed the presence of total coliform (3.6 to >1600 MPN), E. coli (3.6 to >1600 MPN) and faecal streptococci count (<1.8 to 430 MPN) in 100mL of water. Water analysis revealed that the samples were largely within the limits for fish culture.