The planktonic algal communities of the Han River with a particular emphasis on water pollution was studied over a twelve month of period. Results of observing many algal communities from 7 stations of the Han River have shown that these communities are generally composed of many species, most of which have relatively small populations with a few exceptional dominant species. The distribution of the total standing crop of phytoplankton in the studid area is characteristic, summer in the polluted zone. Diversity indices of all samples were computed and have shown that the H values of 7 stations are relatively low. However, a detailed examination of these H values reveals that the seasonal fluctuations of the species diversity remarkably coincide with those fo phytoplankton standing crop.No reduction in the species diversity at stations 4, 5, 6, and 7 where the water is heavily polluted indicates that a great number of species capable of invading stations, 4, 5, and 6 from the various tributaries, and the station 7 from the contaminated with sea water are probably more important in the functional changes of the communities than the size of sampling area. It is evident that the diversity index in a lotic environment does not indicate water quality as far as phytoplankton communities are concerned.