Impact of power plant discharge on the physico-chemical characteristics of Kalpakkam coastal waters

Measurements of air and sea surface temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, Secchidisc depth and seston content of the coastal water at Kalpakkam have been carried out since 1982. The paper discusses the seasonal variations in the above parameters and the impact of power plant operation on these. The annual sea surface temperature during the post-operational period of the reactor largely followed a trend similar to that of the pre-operational period. However, there was a marginal reduction in the difference between annual maxima and minima and a general flattening of the moving average during the post-operational period as compared to the pre-operational period. During the period of study lowest salinity values of 21.94x10-3 (NE monsoon, November 1985) and 27.81x10-3 (SW monsoon, July 1985) were observed. A marginal reduction in water transparency and an increase in the seston content (highest 53.1 mg/l) were the other major changes observed during the post-operational period. (author). 7 refs., 2 tabs., 6 figs