Ecological Systems and Devices Annotation << Back Heavy metals in Volgograd’s reservoir Vorob’ev E.Б., Novikov V.V., Lopatin R.I. The problems of ecological monitoring of heavy metals in Volgograd reservoir are considerated. Heavy metals are one of the most widely spread water bodies pollutants. They, possessing cumulative effect, are hardly subjected to biodegradation and remain active for a long period of time. All this results in their long-lasting effect on the environment. In aquatic environment heavy metals are accumulated in bottom sediments causing temporal “self-clarification” of the water mass, but not of the water body as an ecosystem. Then, on the contrary, self-pollution of the water mass with heavy metals takes place by means of their return from bottom sediments. That is why it is vitally important to hold a permanent monitoring of the system «bottom sediments – water – hydro-bionts».