Dying lakes of Bangalore have a fresh ray of hope in the form of a Swedish research project carried out to save a dying Baltic Sea, the brackish North European sea in the Mediterranean.
Dying lakes of Bangalore have a fresh ray of hope in the form of a Swedish research project carried out to save a dying Baltic Sea, the brackish North European sea in the Mediterranean.
The solution to the problem of depleting oxygen levels in the Bangalore lakes — same as what is being applied to save the Baltic Sea — is oxygenating the beds of the water bodies to circulate the amount of oxygen to save aquatic life in them.
According to Prof Anders Stigebrandt, professor emeritus at department of earth sciences, University of Gothenburg in Sweden, Baltic Sea suffers from eutrophication — a process in which bodies of water receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive growth of algae which breeds several types of bacteria. These bacteria deplete the oxygen levels due to action of respiration, says Stigebrandt.
The algae also cover the surface of the water (Ulsoor Lake is an example), reducing the amount of light that penetrates the water body. The decreased level of dissolved oxygen can result in the death of aquatic life, as has been experienced in several lakes in Bangalore.
According to scientific studies conducted on why lakes in Bangalore are suffering from dipping oxygen levels, the specialists from Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and Lake Development Authority found the action of increasing levels of industrial and domestic effluents causing this very problem in the city’s water bodies.
Studies have also indicated that eutrophication leading to growth of algae in water is most commonly initiated by the combined action of nitrogen and phosphorous.
The Gothenburg University researchers have found the same problem plaguing Baltic Sea. But they also discovered this: “If oxygen-free bottoms of Baltic Sea are oxygenated, it can be anticipated that every square kilometre of bottom surface (of the sea) will be able to bind three tonnes of phosphorous in a short time, which is purely a geochemical effect,” says Stigebrandt.
Once increasing oxygen binds with phosphorous, it renders the latter useless in combining with nitrogen to help growth of algae.
The crippled process would significantly reduce the growth of bacteria that deplete oxygen levels in the water.
Experts feel that the solution could be applied more effective to much smaller water bodies like lakes as compared to a sea like Baltic Sea.
The Gothenburg researchers are using a wind pump to circulate oxygen-rich surface water of Baltic Sea to oxygenate the sea bad; but for the lakes in Bangalore, fresh oxygen could be infused in the lake using whatever simple technologies that are available to enrich the lake beds which are barely at 25-30 feet of average depths.
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