<![CDATA[Abstract. The research objective is to study of water quality affected by people activities inthe water catchment area of Lut Tawar lake Aceh Tengah regency. Five watershedswere selected represented of people activities at the water catchment area.The physical, chemical and biological characteristics of waterwere analyzed in laboratory and compared with water quality standard (the Goverment Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia, Number 82, 2001). The water quality in the watershed was determined by using the STORET method. The result of the research showed that the watershed have been polluted at some of the water catchment areas of Lut Tawar Lake marked by the change of some of physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water.The change in physical charateristics were smelled, tasted, brightness and coloured), the change in chemical charateristics were phosphate (PO4), ammonia (NH3-N), nitrate (NO3) and nitrite (NO2) content, and the change in biological charateristics were thereduce population of macrozoobenthos, water larva and freshwater snail (Pila ampullacea) and increase the worm population. Abstrak. Penelitian diskriftif ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji status kualitas air akibat aktifitas penduduk di daerah tangkapan Danau Lut Tawar Kabupaten Aceh Tengah. Titik sampel dipilih 5 sungai yang merupakan perwakilan dari berbagai aktifitas penduduk disekitar sungai. Sifat fisika air, sifat kimia air dan sifat biologi air dianalisis dengan metode analisis parameter fisika dan kimia lalu dibandingkan dengan standar kualitas baku mutu air (PP No 82 tahun 2001). Status kualitas air ditentukan dengan menggunakan metode STORET. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa telah terjadi pencemaran di daerah tangkapan Danau Lut Tawar yang ditandai dengan beberapa perubahan sifat fisika, kimia dan biologi. Perubahan sifat fisika yaitu bau, rasa, kecerahan dan warna, perubahan kimia Phospat (PO4), Amonia (NH3-N), Nitrat (NO3) dan Nitrit (NO2) dan perubahan biologi berkurangnya populasi makrozoobentos, larva air, kerang tutut dan kerang lainnya serta meningkatnya populasi cacing.]]>
