Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Groundwater quality assessment and human health risks in Gujranwala District, Pakistan

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The availability of safe drinking water is imperative for healthy life but access to safe drinking water has become a major problem around the world, especially in developing countries such as Pakistan. The present study aimed to: assess the suitability of groundwater for potable use in Gujranwala district, Pakistan; examine the spatial distribution patterns of water quality parameters; and to identify the prevalence of waterborne diseases among locals and health risks to humans due to the consumption of groundwater. Eighty drinking water samples were collected from different areas of Gujranwala and analyzed following Standard American Public Health Association methods. A questionnaire survey related to the incidence of waterborne diseases in the area was also carried out. The averaged water quality index (AWQI) was computed using ArcGIS 10.3 model builder. The AWQI map indicated that the water quality was generally suitable for potable use with regard to its physiochemical parameters. However, 97.5% water samples were found to be bacteriologically contaminated. The mean concentration of metals in drinking water showed a decreasing trend in the order Cr > Cu > Zn > As > Co > Ni > Cd. Health risk index (HRI) was also calculated for exposure to metal concentration. For Cd, one sample showed an HRI value > 1 i.e. 1.59 and 1.36 for child and adult, respectively, while HRI for As showed values > 1 varying between 0.5 and 11 for child, and 0.4 and 9.6 for adults. For other metals HRIs was less than 1 (considered to be safe for the consumers). The study concludes that groundwater quality of study areas of Gujranwala has mostly deteriorated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Afzal S, Younas M, Ahmed I, Zahid Md, Khan Mha, Ijaz A, Ali K (2000) Study of water quality of Hudiara drain, India-Pakistan. Environ Int 26:87–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akhtar S, Fatima R, Soomro ZA, Hussain M, Ahmad SR, Ramzan HS (2019) Bacteriological quality assessment of water supply schemes (WSS) of Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan. Environ Earth Sci 78(15):458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alamgir A, Omm-E-Hany Khan MA, Rao S, Sherwani SK (2017) Biological hazards of drinking water supplied to Karachi City, Pakistan. Am-Eurasian J Agric Environ Sci 17(2):179–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Antony RM, Renuga FB (2012) Microbiological analysis of drinking water quality of Ananthanar channel of Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. Rev Ambient Água 7:42–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bain R, Cronk R, Wright J, Yang H, And Slaymaker T, Bartram J (2014) Fecal contamination of drinking-water in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS Med 11(5):1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Business Recorder (2018) Per capita water availability is around 865 cubic meters: NA panel told: https://fp.brecorder.com/2018/03/20180328355230/. Accessed 29 May 2018

  • Daud MK, Nafees M, Ali S, Rizwan M, Bajwa RA, Shakoor MB, Muhammad UA, Chatha SAS, Deeba F, Murad W, Malook I and Zuhu SJ (2017) Drinking water quality status and contamination in Pakistan. BioMed Res Int 2017:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gharbia AS, Gharbia SS, Abushbak T, Wafi H, Aish A, Zelenakova M, Pilla F (2016) Groundwater quality evaluation using GIS based geostatistical algorithms. J Geosci Environ Protect 4:89–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenman DW, Bennett GD, Swarzenski WV (1967) Ground-water hydrology of the Punjab, West Pakistan, with emphasis on problems caused by canal irrigation. US Government Printing Office; 1967

  • Hussain S, Habib-Ur-Rehman M, Khanam T, Sheer A, Kebin Z, Jianjun Y (2019) Health risk assessment of different heavy metals dissolved in drinking water. Int J Environ Res Public Health 16(10):1737

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaishankar M, Tseten T, Anbalagan N, Mathew BB, Beeregowda KN (2014) Toxicity, mechanism and health effects of some heavy metals. Interdiscip Toxicol 7(2):60–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jehangir WA, Qureshi AS, Ali N (2002) Conjunctive water management in the Rechna Doab: an overview of resources and issues. IWMI, Colombo

    Google Scholar 

  • Karami S, Madani H, Katibeh H, Marj AF (2018) Assessment and modeling of the groundwater hydrogeochemical quality parameters via geostatistical approaches. Appl Water Sci 8:23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kazmi M, Hayder S, Rashid H, Rustam M, Sulheri AW, Saeed A (2015) Evaluation of drinking water quality parameters in the areas of East-Lahore Pakistan: a case study. JFET 21:41–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan S, Rana T, Ullah K, Christen E, Nafees M (2003) Investigating conjunctive water management options using a dynamic surface-groundwater modelling approach: a case study of Rechna Doab. CSIRO Land and Water: Technical Report 35/03

  • Khan S, Shahnaz M, Jehan N, Rehman S, Shah MT, Din I (2013) Drinking water quality and human health risk in Charsadda district, Pakistan. J Clean Prod 60:93–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan MJ, Ali MF, And Hassan M, Anwarullah (2017) Microbial evaluation of drinking water and frequency of bacterial isolates from Rawalpindi Pakistan. Pak J Pathol 28(1):28–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Malik RN, Hussain SZ, Nazir I (2010) Heavy Metal contamination and accumulation on soil and wild plant species from industrial area of Islamabad. Pakistan. Pak J Bot 42(1):291–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehmood S, Ahmad A, Ahmed A, Khalid N, Javed T (2013) Drinking water quality in capital city of Pakistan. Sci Rep 2(2):1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Milton AH, Hasan Z, Shahidullah S, Sharmin S, Jakariya M, Rahman M, Dear K, Smith W (2004) Association between nutritional status and arsenicosis due to chronic arsenic exposure in Bangladesh. Int J Environ Health Res 14:99–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundorff MJ, Carrigan Jr PH, Steele TD, Randall AD (1976) Hydrologic evaluation of salinity control and reclamation projects in the Indus Plain, Pakistan–A summary. US Govt. Print. Off

  • Murtaza F, Nasir ZA, Colbeck I, Campos LC (2015) Socio-environmental determinant of exposure to water and sanitation related hazards in Pakistan. J Anim Plant Sci 25:703–725

    Google Scholar 

  • PCRWR (2005) National Water Quality Monitoring Programme. Water Quality Report 2003– 2004. Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources Islamabad :Islamabad, Pakistan (2005)

  • PCRWR (2007) National water quality monitoring programme. In: Fifth Monitoring Report (2005–2006); Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources Islamabad: Islamabad, Pakistan, 2007

  • Punjab Sector Development Plan 2014-2024 Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. Government of the Punjab (2015)

  • Rahman F, Alam S, Hassan SN, Akond MA (2016) Arsenicosis: health crisis and social consequences in rural Bangladesh. Am J Environ Occup Health 1(1):27–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Rehman A (1997) Salinity management alternatives in the Rechna Doab, Punjab, Pakistan: International Water Management Institute. Research Report No. 21.8

  • Rice EW, Baird RB, Eaton AD (2017) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 23rd Edition. In: American Water Works Association/American Public Works Association/Water Environment Federation

  • Shahid N, Zia Z, Shahid M, Bakhat HF, Anwar S, Shah GM, Ashraf MR (2015) Assessing drinking water quality in Punjab, Pakistan. P J Environ Stud 24(6):2597–2606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shar AH, Kazi YF, Soomro IH (2008) Impact of seasonal variation on bacteriological quality of drinking water. Bang J Microbiol 25:69–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shar AH, Kazi YF, Kanhar NA, Soomro IH, Zia SM, Ghumro PB (2010) Drinking water quality in Rohri City, Sindh, Pakistan. Afr J Biotech 9(42):7102–7107

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegmann KA Shezad S (2005) Pakistan’s water challenges: A human development perspective. Background Papers Pakistan’s Water Economy

  • Tahir MA, Rasheed H, Imran S (2010) Water quality status in rural areas of Pakistan, Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources. Report no. 143-2010

  • Tariq MI, Afzal S, Hussain I (2004) Pesticides in shallow groundwater of Bahawalnagar, Muzafargarh, D. G. Khan and RajanPur Districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Environ Int 30(4):471–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tariq MI, Afzal S, Hussain I, Sultana N (2007) Pesticides exposure in Pakistan: a review. Environ Int 33:1107–1122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Nation (2017) Future in danger. https://nation.com.pk/14-Jul-2017/future-in-danger. Accessed 29 May 2018

  • United States Geological Survey (1967) Ground-Water Hydrology of the Punjab, West Pakistan With Emphasis on Problems Caused by Canal Irrigation. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1608-H pages 81

  • USEPA (2011) Exposure factors handbook. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. EPA/600/R-09/052F

  • US-EPA, IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System) (2018) National Center for Environmental Assessment. Available at www.epa.gov/iris

  • WHO/UNDP/ADB/UNESCAP (2006) Asia water watch 2015. Are countries in Asia on track to meet target 10 of the Millennium Development Goals?

  • WHO/UNICEF (2017) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2017 update and SDG baseline

  • World Health Organization (2017) Guidelines for drinking-water quality fourth edition incorporating the first addendum

  • Zahid J (2017) Impact of clean drinking water and sanitation on water borne diseases in Pakistan.http://sdpi.org/publications/files/Impact-of-Safe-Drinking-Water-and-Sanitation-on-Water-Born-Diseases-in-Pakistan.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2018

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority, Ministry of Science and Technology and Department of Environmental Sciences, Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore, Pakistan to complete this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Kinnaird College for Women, 93, Jail Road, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan

    Iqra Mazhar & Almas Hamid

  2. Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of Pakistan, 234-Ferozpur Road, Lahore, Pakistan

    Shahzad Afzal

Authors
  1. Iqra Mazhar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Almas Hamid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shahzad Afzal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Almas Hamid.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 3293 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mazhar, I., Hamid, A. & Afzal, S. Groundwater quality assessment and human health risks in Gujranwala District, Pakistan. Environ Earth Sci 78, 634 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8644-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8644-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation