Water samples were collected from three nalas connecting to Hussain Sagar lake (Banjara Hills nala, Picket nala and Kukatpally nala), Safilguda lake, Saroornagar lake and Durgam Cheruvu lake and analyzed microbiologically using standard methods. The pathogenic bacteria isolated were identified to be Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella species, Salmonella species, Pseudomonas aerugionosa, Vibrio species and Shigella. The presence of pathogenic bacteria in these lakes can be attributed to discharge of untreated effluents and sewage into the lakes.

Water has been used since antiquity as a symbol to express devotion and purity. With twothirds of the earth?s surface covered by water and the human body consisting of 75% of it, it is evidently clear that water is one of the prime elements responsible for life on earth. A lake is a low lying part of the earth?s surface, in which rainwater, surface water runoff, outflow from a river, and water from other sources accumulate. There is a great variety of lakes on the earth: there are freshwater lakes and saltwater lakes, ranging in size from small fish ponds to huge water bodies. India has a large number of lakes spread all over the country, from Kashmir to Kerala and from Rajasthan to Assam. Among the better-known freshwater lakes in India are the Dal lake in Srinagar and the Nainital lake. Whether natural or manmade, all lakes are major sources of water. Lakes are degraded, depleted and contaminated mainly by human activities. The main causes are inflow of domestic sewage, agricultural runoff, discharge of industrial effluents, overfishing, introduction of exotic species and habitat degradation from population growth and expansion of cities. Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad is one of the largest manmade lakes in Asia.

Escherichia coli (the predominant member of fecal coliform group), is a member of enteric bacteria whose presence in natural waters is used as an indicator of faecal contamination, and therefore the possible presence for pathogenic microorganisms (Rhodes and Kator, 1998), but their absence does not necessarily guarantee quality of water (Dutka, 1973). Sewage effluent contains a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms which may pose health hazard to human population when they are discharged into the water bodies (Borrego and Figueras, 1997) and the health hazard could be severe in a heavily populated country such as India.

Though some published data are available on the water quality of the study area (Hussain Sagar lake, Durgam Cheruvu lake, Saroornagar lake, Safilguda lake), there are virtually no reports available on the pathogenic bacteria from the present study area. Hence the present study was carried out with an objective to identify some common pathogenic microorganisms.

Life Sciences Journal, Milk Production Systems in Bure District, Amhara National Regional State, Milk Development, Marketing Systems, Agricultural Products, Feeding Systems, Calf Rearing, Milk Feeding, Bucket Feeding, Partial Suckling, Dietary Treatments, Veterinary Services.