Spatiotemporal Evaluation of Water Quality and Pollution Characteristics of Selected Lakes in the Nilgiris District, Western Ghats, India

Ganga Devi; Muniasamy Muniyandi

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.86985

Spatiotemporal Evaluation of Water Quality and Pollution Characteristics of Selected Lakes in the Nilgiris District, Western Ghats, India

Author(s)	Ms. Ganga Devi, Prof. Dr. Muniasamy Muniyandi
Country	India
Abstract	This study investigates seasonal changes in water quality and the partitioning of trace metals across the water–sediment–fish continuum in selected freshwater lakes of the Nilgiris, Western Ghats, India. Physicochemical parameters, nutrients and Cu, Ni and Pb were evaluated in water, sediments and fish muscle of Cyprinus carpio from Pykara, Emerald and Kattery lakes and Carassius gibelio from Wellington Lake. Water Quality Index (WQI) values increased from 48.2–68.5 during the pre-monsoon period to 62.5–74.9 post-monsoon, indicating seasonal deterioration in water quality. Wellington exhibited the strongest dissolved-ion and organic-loading signal, with elevated BOD and TDS, while phosphate concentrations reached 4.23 mg/L across the study lakes. Dissolved Pb concentrations (27.19–72.5 µg/L) exceeded the adopted water-quality guideline across the study lakes, whereas sediment Cu (50.15–69.74 µg/g) and Ni (61.26–85.82 µg/g) exceeded the adopted 50 µg/g guideline at multiple sites. Fish-muscle Ni concentrations (0.70–0.80 µg/g) were elevated despite comparatively low dissolved Ni concentrations, suggesting that water-column measurements alone may not fully capture biological exposure. Sediment-to-fish concentration ratios for Cu, Ni and Pb were consistently below unity (0.0056–0.0124), with Ni showing the highest ratio among the three metals. Dietary exposure assessment indicated low non-carcinogenic risk, with Hazard Index values ranging from 0.0504–0.0621 for adults and 0.1196–0.1476 for children. Overall, the contrasting distribution of Pb, Cu and Ni among water, sediment and fish indicates compartment-specific contamination patterns and highlights the value of integrated water–sediment–biota assessment for characterizing contaminant persistence and biological exposure in mountain freshwater ecosystems.
Keywords	Fresh water; Heavy metals; WQI -Water Quality Index; Rsf - sediment-to-fish concentration ratio, Human Health Risk Assessment; Nickel bioaccumulation; Nilgiris UNESCO Biosphere reserve.
Field	Biology > Zoology
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-09-08
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.86985

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Spatiotemporal Evaluation of Water Quality and Pollution Characteristics of Selected Lakes in the Nilgiris District, Western Ghats, India

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