An update report on the water chemistry of the lakes of central Italy

Albano, Bolsena and Bracciano are the most important lakes in Central Italy; the relevance and the potential vulnerability of these lakes is enhanced by their location in a populous area, with a high water demand for agriculture and other public uses. The waters of Lake Bracciano are already utilized for drinking supply to the city of Rome. The aim of this paper is to update the information on the water chemistry of these lakes, on the basis of samplings carried out by the authors; moreover experimental data are compared with similar analyses available from the literature. Besides the mass hydraulic balance of the lake system, the whole volcanic basin was considered and data related to the period 2000-2005 were also highlighted.