Study shows Lake Van seriously polluted
Turkish Daily News
12/29/04
Researchers at Van’s Yüzüncü Yıl University have devised a map of
relative pollution levels in Lake Van following an analysis of water
samples collected from various parts of the lake.
Assistant Professor Orhan Deniz from the university’s department of
geography traversed the 530-kilometer-long coastline of Lake Van on
foot and collected water samples over a period of four months,
according to the Anatolia news agency. The research was conducted in
cooperation with Vice Chancellor Professor Ali Fuat Dog˘u.
Deniz stated that the samples taken from the lake underwent laboratory
analysis to determine the coliform content of the water. He
said pollution was heaviest in non-residential areas and the
sections of the lake that have no currents.
`We classified areas according to their suitability for swimming
and have concluded that 40 percent of the lake is unsuitable for this
activity. According to the classification, the clean parts of the lake
have been indicated on the map with the number one, the less polluted
areas by a two, the polluted sections by a three, and the most
polluted locations by a four, indicating the lake’s most hazardous
areas,’ said Deniz.
Deniz said they had been unable to survey the 90 kilometers
of coastline stretching between the village of Altınsaç in Gevas¸
and Res¸adiye in Tatvan due to the area’s inaccessibility, adding
that they would continue their research in the spring to complete the
map.
Deniz said he would also monitor pollution levels by season and would
collect samples starting in January to create a winter map.