Roughly 30% of Westgate Park’s 40 hectares is in water bodies. These range from two large fresh and saltwater lakes to small ephemeral ponds and soaks – all of which are important in encouraging diversity of plant and animal life.
With the assistance of Melbourne Water, we have been conducting water quality testing at four principal sites in the Park since 2008. We test for dissolved oxygen, pH, water temperature, salinity, turbidity and phosphate. This period covers the end of one of the longest periods of drought in recent history for Melbourne followed by two years of ‘normal’ rainfall and the data collected tells the stark story of what this meant for the health of our lakes.
Our lakes are not fed by any natural watercourse and nor is there currently any discharge so in dry periods water levels drop and salt and nutrients become more concentrated.
We are fortunate in receiving stormwater run off into the lakes from the Herald & Weekly Times building to the north and from Wharf Road and we hope to secure runoff from other nearby sites to supplement this and to create a more natural system of outflows to maintain current excellent water quality.
| Date | Diss. Oxygen (mg/L) | Salinity (mS) | pH | Air temp (°C) | Water temp (°C) | Turbidity (NTU) | Weather | Last rainfall (mm) | Water appearance | Notes | Tests Conducted By | |
| Salt water Lake | 17/03/2018 10am | 0 | 86.9 | 9.4 | 22 | 21.3 | 215 | Sunny, clear | 12/3/18 3mm | Milky, slightly pink, algae present | Low confidence in data dissolved oxygen data | Imogen Belle |
| Dam outlet | 17/03/2018 10.55pm | 10 | 179 | 8.6 | 25.7 | 23.1 | 80 | Overcast | 12/3/18 3mm | low water level, sediment in water column | Lots of fish. Perhaps more obvious at low level | Imogen , Belle |
| Horseshoe Lake | 17/02/2018 9.20am | 2 | 48.8 | NA | 18 | 18.7 | <9 | Sunny | 30/1/18 42mm | Clear, greenish | Aquatic vegetation & algae present | Imogen Ying, Belle |
| Southern Wetlands | 16/12/2017 9.40am | 1 | 10.8 | 7.6 | 27.7 | 24.3 | 35 | Sunny | Not recorded | Colour of strong tea | Higher water level & Azolla covering pond | Imogen Ying |
If you would like to assist us in monitoring water quality, call Tony Flude on 0400 770 254.