Abstract
Heavy metal (HM) contamination in the drinking water is a serious threat to the consumers and has drawn the global attention. In the current study, twenty six (26) groundwater samples including tube well and domestic bores were collected randomly from fourteen union councils (UCs) of tehsil Swabi. Depth of the tube wells ranged between 100 and 400 feet, while in domestic bore water, it ranged from 22 to 140 feet. Samples were analyzed for different parameters. Concentrations of the heavy metals (HMs) were found in the following increasing orders of Pb > Zn > Cr > Cu > Ni > Cd > Co in domestic well water while in tube well water, the increasing order was Cu > Ni > Co > Zn > Cr > Cd. In the domestic well samples, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb were found above the World health organization (WHO), permissible limits. Based on the Water Quality Index (WQI), samples collected from domestic wells were found of poor quality with WQI value of 208, while tube well waters were found of excellent quality, with WQI value of 40. This indicates that domestic well waters are more prone to HM contamination due to low depth. Health risk data showed significantly high risk (HQ > 1) for children upon domestic well water consumption, due to high concentrations of Cr and Pb. No significance relationship was observed between the various parameters which indicate the input of these contaminants from multiple sources.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and materials
Relevant data and material will be available whenever requested.
References
Ahmed, J., Wong, L. P., Chua, Y. P., & Channa, N. (2020a). Drinking water quality mapping using Water Quality Index and geospatial analysis in primary schools of Pakistan. Water, 12(12), 3382.
Ahmed, J., Wong, L. P., Chua, Y. P., Channa, N., Mahar, R. B., Yasmin, A., ... & Garn, J. V. (2020b). Quantitative microbial risk assessment of drinking water quality to predict the risk of waterborne diseases in primary-school children. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(8), 2774
Akram, P., Solangi, G. S., Shehzad, F. R., & Ahmed, A. (2020). Groundwater quality assessment using a Water Quality Index (WQI) in nine major cities of Sindh, Pakistan.
Bansal, O. P. (2020). Health risks of potentially toxic metals contaminated water. In Heavy metal toxicity in public health.
Brindha, K., Jagadeshan, G., Kalpana, L., & Elango, L. (2016). Fluoride in weathered rock aquifers of southern India: Managed aquifer recharge for mitigation. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 23(9), 8302–8316.
da Rosa Couto, R., Faversani, J., Ceretta, C. A., Ferreira, P. A. A., Marchezan, C., Facco, D. B., ... & Brunetto, G. (2018). Health risk assessment and soil and plant heavy metal and bromine contents in field plots after ten years of organic and mineral fertilization. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 153, 142–150.
District Census Report (DCR) of Swabi District. (2017). Population Census Organization, Statistic Division of Economic Affairs and Statistics, Government of Pakistan, (pp. 1–20).
Fernández, N., Ramírez, A., & Solano, F. (2004). Physico-chemical water quality indices-A comparative review. Bistua: Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, 2(1), 19–30.
Gain, A. K., Hossain, S., Benson, D., Di Baldassarre, G., Giupponi, C., & Huq, N. (2021). Social-ecological system approaches for water resources management. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 28(2), 109–124.
Giri, S., & Singh, A. K. (2015). Human health risk assessment via drinking water pathway due to metal contamination in the groundwater of Subarnarekha River Basin India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 187(3), 1–14.
Gul, N., Shah, M. T., Khan, S., Khattak, N. U., & Muhammad, S. (2015). Arsenic and heavy metals contamination, risk assessment and their source in drinking water of the Mardan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. Journal of Water and Health, 13(4), 1073–1084.
Hadzi, G. Y., Essumang, D. K., & Ayoko, G. A. (2018). Assessment of contamination and health risk of heavy metals in selected water bodies around gold mining areas in Ghana. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 190(7), 1–17.
Hussain, A., Yeats, R., & Pogue, K. (1990). Geologic map of the Attock-Cherat Range and adjoining areas; NWFP and Punjab, Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan NWFP Map Series, Scale, 1(100,000).
Kachroud, M., Trolard, F., Kefi, M., Jebari, S., & Bourrié, G. (2019). Water quality indices: Challenges and application limits in the literature. Water, 11(2), 361.
Li, Z., Ma, Z., van der Kuijp, T. J., Yuan, Z., & Huang, L. (2014). A review of soil heavy metal pollution from mines in China: Pollution and health risk assessment. Science of the Total Environment, 468, 843–853.
Liu, J., Cao, L., & Dou, S. (2017). Bioaccumulation of heavy metals and health risk assessment in three benthic bivalves along the coast of Laizhou Bay China. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 117(1–2), 98–110.
MEE. (2018). Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, Chinese National Soil Environmental Quality Risk Control Standard for Soil Contamination of Agriculture Land GB15618–2018. China Environmental Science Press, Beijing in Chinese. http://kjs.mee.gov.cn/hjbhbz/bzwb/trhj/trhjzlbz/201807/W020190626595212456114.pdf
Peavy, H. S., Rowe, D. R., & Tchobanoglous, G. (1985). Environmental engineering (Vol. 2985). McGraw-Hill.
Rahman, M. A. T., Paul, M., Bhoumik, N., Hassan, M., Alam, M. K., & Aktar, Z. (2020). Heavy metal pollution assessment in the groundwater of the Meghna Ghat industrial area, Bangladesh, by using water pollution indices approach. Applied Water Science, 10(8), 1–15.
Rasool, A., Farooqi, A., Masood, S., & Hussain, K. (2016a). Arsenic in groundwater and its health risk assessment in drinking water of Mailsi, Punjab, Pakistan. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 22(1), 187–202.
Rasool, A., Xiao, T., Farooqi, A., Shafeeque, M., Masood, S., Ali, S., ... & Nasim, W. (2016b). Arsenic and heavy metal contaminations in the tube well water of Punjab, Pakistan and risk assessment: A case study. Ecological Engineering, 95, 90–100
Razak, M. R., Aris, A. Z., Zakaria, N. A. C., Wee, S. Y., & Ismail, N. A. H. (2021). Accumulation and risk assessment of heavy metals employing species sensitivity distributions in Linggi River, Negeri Sembilan Malaysia. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 211, 111905.
Shah, M. T., Ara, J., Muhammad, S., Khan, S., & Tariq, S. (2012). Health risk assessment via surface water and sub-surface water consumption in the mafic and ultramafic terrain, Mohmand agency, northern Pakistan. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 118, 60–67.
Singh, U. K., & Kumar, B. (2017). Pathways of heavy metals contamination and associated human health risk in Ajay River basin, India. Chemosphere, 174, 183–199.
UNDP. (2015). Sustainable development goal. 17 goals to transform our world. Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all. UNDP Report. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation
US EPA. (1989). Risk assessment guidance for superfund (RAGS), vol. I. Human health evaluation manual (HHEM) — Part A,Baseline risk assessment. Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, Washington, DC.
Vetrimurugan, E., Brindha, K., Elango, L., & Ndwandwe, O. M. (2017). Human exposure risk to heavy metals through groundwater used for drinking in an intensively irrigated river delta. Applied Water Science, 7(6), 3267–3280.
Walpole, S. C., Prieto-Merino, D., Edwards, P., Cleland, J., Stevens, G., & Roberts, I. (2012). The weight of nations: An estimation of adult human biomass. BMC Public Health, 12(1), 1–6.
WHO. (2011). Guidelines for drinking water quality (4th ed.). World health organization Geneva, Switzerland.
WHO. (2017). Drinking water factsheet. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs391/en/
Wu, W., Wu, P., Yang, F., Sun, D. L., Zhang, D. X., & Zhou, Y. K. (2018). Assessment of heavy metal pollution and human health risks in urban soils around an electronics manufacturing facility. Science of the Total Environment, 630, 53–61.
Yousefi, M., Dehghani, M. H., Nasab, S. M., Taghavimanesh, V., Nazmara, S., & Mohammadi, A. A. (2018). Data on trend changes of drinking groundwater resources quality: A case study in Abhar. Data in Brief, 17, 424–430.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All the authors have equally contributed. Laeiq Ahmad: sample collection and analysis; Hamza Waheed: sample collections; Hasan Iqbal: graphs and map preparation; Nida Gul: statistical analysis and health risk assessment; Lawangin Sheikh: lab analysis; and Asad Khan: manuscript writing.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical approval
No ethical approval is required by the authors for this manuscript.
Consent to participate
All the authors agreed upon their participation.
Consent to publish
The authors declare that they have no objection on publishing the data.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ahmad, L., Waheed, H., Gul, N. et al. Geochemistry of subsurface water of Swabi district and associated health risk with heavy metal contamination. Environ Monit Assess 194, 480 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10138-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10138-0