Drinking Water Quality Assessment of Springs in Gokand Valley District Buner Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: The quality of spring water in Gokand Valley, District Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, is a matter of public health importance due to its use as a primary source of drinking water. This study was initiated in response to concerns about potential environmental and anthropogenic contaminations that could affect the water quality.
Objective: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the drinking water quality from six different springs in Gokand Valley, assessing their compliance with the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).
Methods: Conducted from October 2019 to October 2020, the study involved the collection and subsequent chemical analysis of water samples from six springs in the valley. The parameters analyzed included Total Hardness as CaCO₃, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Chloride as Cl, Sulphate as SO₄, pH, Sodium as Na, Nitrite as NO₂, Total Alkalinity as CaCO₃, Calcium as CaCO₃, Magnesium as MgCO₃, Potassium as K, and Conductivity.
Results: The results indicated a variation in water quality across the springs. Total Hardness as CaCO₃ ranged from 96.45 mg/L to 286.36 mg/L, and TDS values varied between 132.33 mg/L and 367.33 mg/L. Chloride levels were found to be between 5.36 mg/L and 14.28 mg/L. Sulphate concentrations ranged from 9.54 mg/L to 17.96 mg/L. The pH levels of all samples were close to neutral, ranging from 6.98 to 7.30. Sodium levels varied from 5.67 mg/L to 17.47 mg/L. Nitrite was not detected in any of the samples. Total Alkalinity as CaCO₃ ranged from 93.66 mg/L to 240.39 mg/L, Calcium as CaCO₃ from 53.73 mg/L to 200.68 mg/L, Magnesium as MgCO₃ from 41.42 mg/L to 109.40 mg/L, Potassium as K from 1.30 mg/L to 3.50 mg/L, and Conductivity values varied from 210.00 µS/cm to 596.67 µS/cm.
Conclusion: The study concludes that the water from the six springs in Gokand Valley generally meets the WHO and PSQCA standards for drinking water. This finding underscores the importance of these natural springs as a viable source of potable water for the local population. However, continuous monitoring is recommended to ensure sustained water quality in the face of potential environmental changes and anthropogenic activities.
Article Details
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
D. Dunea, P. Bretcan, D. Tanislav, G. Serban, R. Teodorescu, S. Iordache, et al., "Evaluation of water quality in Ialomita River Basin in relationship with land cover patterns," Water, vol. 12, p. 735, 2020.
R. Roy and M. Majumder, "A quick prediction of hardness from water quality parameters by artificial neural network," International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, vol. 17, pp. 247-257, 2018.
S. A. Esrey, "Water, waste, and well-being: a multicountry study," American journal of epidemiology, vol. 143, pp. 608-623, 1996.
M. Ilyas, S. Khan, A. Khan, R. Amin, A. Khan, and M. Aamir, "Analysis of drinking water quality and health risk assessment-A case study of Dir Pakistan," Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, vol. 50, p. 100, 2017.
M. Daud, M. Nafees, S. Ali, M. Rizwan, R. A. Bajwa, M. B. Shakoor, et al., "Drinking water quality status and contamination in Pakistan," BioMed research international, vol. 2017, 2017.
A. Daghara, I. A. Al-Khatib, and M. Al-Jabari, "Quality of drinking water from springs in palestine: West bank as a case study," Journal of Environmental and Public Health, vol. 2019, 2019.
J. Aziz, "Management of source and drinking-water quality in Pakistan," EMHJ-Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 11 (5-6), 1087-1098, 2005, 2005.
S. Shuja and M. Jaffar, "Drinking water quality guideline values, chemical and physical aspects," in Proceedings of the National Workshop on Quality of Drinking Water, 1998, pp. 25-28.
R. Bain, R. Cronk, J. Wright, H. Yang, T. Slaymaker, and J. Bartram, "Fecal contamination of drinking-water in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis," PLoS medicine, vol. 11, p. e1001644, 2014.
A. Khan, S. S. Gilani, F. Hussain, and M. J. Durrani, "Ethnobotany of Gokand Valley, District Buner, Pakistan," Pak J Biol Sci, vol. 6, p. 9, 2003.
M. I. Bhanger and S. Q. Memon, "Water research activities in Pakistan," in Proceedings of the 1st Technical Meeting of Muslim Water Researchers Cooperation (MUWAREC), Malaysia, 2008.
S. Mehmood, A. Ahmad, A. Ahmed, N. Khalid, and T. Javed, "Drinking water quality in capital city of Pakistan," Sci Rep, vol. 2, pp. 1-6, 2013.
F. Edition, "Guidelines for drinking-water quality," WHO chronicle, vol. 38, pp. 104-8, 2011.
M. Mohsin, S. Safdar, F. Asghar, and F. Jamal, "Assessment of drinking water quality and its impact on residents health in Bahawalpur city," International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol. 3, pp. 114-128, 2013.
A. Tabesh, M. Sameti, S. Samadi, M. Farhadian, and G. Kiani, "Economic Evaluation of PPP in the Water Sector: Financial CGE Approach," Iranian Economic Review, vol. 26, pp. 459-476, 2022.
Jabeen M, Shahjahan M, Farid G. Information Dissemination during COVID-19 Pandemic among Postgraduate Allied Health Sciences Students in Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Medical & Health Sciences. 2022;16(11):366-.
Farid G, Zaheer S, Khalid A, Arshad A, Kamran M. Evaluating Medical College Lib Guides: A Usability Case Study. Pakistan Journal of Medical & Health Sciences. 2022 Aug 26;16(07):461-.
Chughati AS, Zaheer S, Farid G, Niazi AK, Mujtaba M, Islam A, Malik WA. Emotional Intelligence as a Predictor of Academic Performance. Pakistan Journal of Medical & Health Sciences. 2022 Dec 12;16(10):636-.
Farid G, Niazi A K, Muneeb M, Iftikhar S. Attitude towards Utilization of e-Resources of Medical Images among Health Care Professionals. Pakistan Journal of Medical and Health Science., 2021 15 (9), 261-263
Shahjahan M, Jabeen M, Farid G. Information Providing in COVID-19 by Health Professionals in Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Medical & Health Sciences. 2022 Dec 12;16(10):641-.
Farid G, Miraj I, Iqbal S, Iftikhar S. ACCESSIBILITY, USAGE, AND BEHAVIORAL INTENTION OF PRINT BOOKS AND EBOOKS BY MEDICAL STUDENTS. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). 2021. 6020.
Farid G, Soroya S. Masooma. Perception and Behavioral Intention of Print and Electronic Books among Medical Students; A Comparative Study. Pakistan Library & Information Science Journal. 2018 49 (1), 52-60.
Baladi Z S, Farid G, Gulzar A, Hussain M, Iftikhar S, Naz M. Examining Authorship Dynamics, Publication Patterns, and Affiliations in the Pakistan Journal of Medical and Health Sciences (PJMHS) from 2009- 2019. Pakistan Library & Information Science Journal. 2023 May 23; 17 (5):270-280.