ArmInfo. The problem of Sevan fouling by algae is due not only to the high temperature background. Minister of Nature Protection Erik Grigoryan told journalists on July 26.
According to him, the Ministry of Health of Armenia has already announced the risks of this phenomenon. Environmentalists will present ecological risks after they have been studied at the end of the month.
Today, as Grigoryan pointed out, it can be said that the problem is related not only to the high temperature background, but also to scanty precipitation and the dumping of extremely polluted waters into the basins of the country. "At present, there are several water treatment stations that perform only mechanical cleaning. This must be corrected," he said.
Previously, ecologist Karine Danielyan stated that the problem of Sevan fouling by seaweed is so great that it threatens the only large reservoir in the territory of Armenia by turning into a swamp. "During the Soviet period, forty different institutions studied the state of the lake. And already then it was fixed that it is necessary to raise the water level by 6 meters. However, at the moment it is the minimum necessary norm, which is capable of providing self-cleaning of the lake, "the expert said.
Also Danielyan stressed the need to build new water treatment plants, clean rivers and establish control over emissions from the shores of the lake.
Meanwhile, on the eve of the Ministry of Health appealed to citizens not to swim in the seaweed-covered areas of Lake Sevan. According to the statement of the Ministry of Health, algae can be dangerous to health and become the cause of manifestations of such diseases as asthma, allergies, dizziness, fever, colic in the stomach, sore throats and joints, liver problems.