WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN INLET AND OUTLET CHANNELS OF SHRIMP FARMS IN TIAB AREA, HORMOZGAN PROVINCE

The shrimp farming industry has rapidly expanded in the south of Iran and in particular in the Hormozgan province during the past decade. We studied physico-chemical parameters of water in outlet and inlet channels of shrimp farms in Tiab during July-December 2000. Water samples were collected monthly at four stations during the harvest period. The parameters assessed included pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, phosphate, total phosphate, total suspended solids and chlorophyll a. The variation of above parameters were determined to be 7.62 - 8.19, 42.75 - 52.55ppt, 2.8 - 8.3mg/l, 4.46 -0.66m/l, 0.21-1.64µg/l, 0.12-2.07µm/l, 0.13-16.1µm/l, 0.59-10.5µm/l, 22-121mg/l and 0.43-5.13µm/l respectively. Results of the analyses showed that salinity, dissolved nutrient, T.S.S and chlorophyll a in the effluent were significantly higher than the influent water (P<0.05). A significant correlation was also found between chlorophyll a and nitrate, phosphate and suspended solid concentration (P<0.05). Comparison of the results with the standards showed that parameters are currently within acceptable limits.