Assessment of drinking water quality using Water Quality Index and synthetic pollution index in urban areas of mega city Lahore: a GIS-based approach

Drinking water quality assessment based on index values incorporating WHO guidelines and Bangladesh standards

The present study was conducted to evaluate the quality of drinking water and assess the potential health hazards due to water contaminants in selected urban areas of Lahore, Pakistan. Water samples were collected from ten sites and analyzed for different physico-chemical parameters including turbidity, color, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), nitrates, fluoride, residual chlorine, and total hardness. Additionally, heavy metal (arsenic) and microbial parameters (E. coli) were also determined in the water samples. Drinking water quality evaluation indices, including the water quality index (WQI) for physico-chemical and biological parameters and human health risk assessment (HHRA) for heavy metal were estimated using the analytical results of the target parameters. It was found in most of the areas that the levels of arsenic, fluoride, TDS, and residual chlorine were higher than those recommended by the National Environmental Quality Standard (NEQS) and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. In addition to the physico-chemical parameters, microbial content (E. coli) was also found in the drinking water samples of the selected areas. Statistical analysis of the results indicated that levels of target parameters in drinking water samples are significantly different between sampling sites. The WQI for all physico-chemical and microbial parameters indicated that drinking water in most of the areas was unfit and unsuitable (WQI > 100) for drinking purposes except for the water of Bhatti Gate and Chota Gaon Shahdara with a WQI of 87 and 91, respectively. Drinking water in these areas had a very poor WQI rating. According to HHRA, drinking water from the selected sites was found to be of high risk to children and adults. The carcinogenic risk of arsenic indicated that all samples were of high risk to both adults and children (4.60 and 4.37 × 10-3, respectively). Regular monitoring of drinking water quality is essential, and proactive measures must be implemented to ensure the treatment and availability of safe drinking water in urban areas.

This study aimed to evaluate the suitability of Kabul Province’s groundwater for drinking by way of analyzing the data collected from 34 ground monitoring wells. The purpose was helped through the assessment of a set of groundwater physico-chemical parameters (pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS); sulfate, fluoride, nitrate, and boron content; total hardness (TH) as calcium carbonate, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and total iron), as well as the determination of the Water Quality Index (WQI) developed based on sampling the water points located in the districts of Kabul Province and Kabul City in the course of 3 years (2018 to 2020) to provide a clear and concise representation of water quality status, and cat-egorize groundwater into different quality classes ranging from “excellent” to “unsuitable for drinking”. Moreover, the spatial distribution of WQI and 12 physico-chemical parameter values was mapped using the Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) Interpolation in Arcmap 10.7 environment, revealing distinct water quality patterns across the study area. The water qual-ity testing outcomes under this investigation show compliance of multiple water contaminant concentrations with the World Health Organization (WHO) Water Quality Guidelines and Afghanistan National Drinking Water Quality Standards (ANDWQS). The WQI values range between 27.5 and 112 (as per ANDWQS) and between 33 and 127.5 (as per WHO Guide-lines); the WQI (WHO) display 9% and WQI (ANDWQS) display 3% of groundwater unsuit-able for drinking. Spatial variation maps (IDW Interpolation) demonstate that turbidity, TDS, TH, and magnesium concentration values for the provinces’s central and eastern sec-tions exceed the permissible thresholds. The study’s findings underscore the need for target-ed groundwater management strategies, including pollution control and regular monitoring, to safeguard water quality and public health in Kabul Province.

Poor water quality has been linked to health risks in Harare, Zimbabwe. This study was conducted to evaluate the composite groundwater quality for consumption. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the suitability of groundwater for consumption, determine the influence of different water quality parameters on the final water quality index and identify health risks associated with nitrate and E. coli. Water samples were collected (2021 to 2023) from selected boreholes in 8 districts. The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment water quality index was used to categorize the composite water quality and determine the parameters which failed to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines of 2017. The quantitative hazard quotient and microbial risk assessments were used to assess the health risk from nitrate and E. coli exposure in drinking water. The study confirmed that 75% of the districts had poor water quality index category mainly due to average turbidity, E. coli and chlorine residuals which failed to meet the WHO guidelines. The study also found that children were vulnerable to nitrate contamination health risks as the hazard quotient exceeded 1 in 25% of the districts. The estimated disease burden from E. coli exceeded the WHO benchmark of 1 × 10−6 DALYs in 75% of the districts, showing a significant health risk to waterborne diseases. The study highlights the need for water quality improvements in Harare with specific interventions such as low-cost household treatment as the short-term solution, while improving sanitation and waste management practices could be the long-term solutions to improve water quality for consumption to protect public health.

The natural resources, especially water in the Densu river basin, play significant roles in the socio-economic development of Ghana. The purpose of this study was to analyse the water quality of the Densu river using water quality index (WQI) and multivariate techniques. In this study, physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters were measured from surface water samples taken from eight (8) sampling stations in the study area. water quality index and multivariate techniques such as hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis were utilized in the analysis of surface water quality data. The results indicated that the average WQI of the Densu river for the two sampling periods was sixty-one (61) which is classified as Medium, based on the Solway WQI index. The pH levels of all the samples were within allowable limits of World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. All the sampling stations for the two seasonal periods had bacteriological parameters higher than WHO guidelines, making the samples unsuitable for most domestic uses. The study revealed that six (6) principal components accounted for about 97% of the total variance of dataset and three (3) spatial clusters were classified. This research has provided the basis for applying both WQI and multivariate techniques in analysing and classifying water quality in a river basin.

Seawater intrusion into the Indus Delta, Pakistan, has spoiled groundwater aquifers in the area. In the delta, the groundwater is widely used by residents for drinking. Considering the gravity of the problem, and concerns expressed by affected communities, the present study was conducted to assess and map the quality of groundwater, based on the physico-chemical properties of 180 samples, using two standard numerical indices, geospatial and statistical techniques. The analysis of water samples revealed that several parameters exceeded the drinking water quality guidelines suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO). The water quality index (WQI) identified that about 1.7%, 1.1%, 27.8%, 42.8%, and 26.6% of the water samples were excellent, good, poor, very poor, and unsuitable for drinking purposes, respectively. However, the synthetic pollution index (SPI) ranked the quality of 2.8%, 2.2%, 23.9%, 41.7%, and 29.4% as suitable, slightly polluted, moderately polluted, highly polluted, and unsuitable, respectively. Though the numerical model's input is different, the proportionate ranking revealed a fair correlation (R2 = 0.75) between the outcomes of both indices. The results of the numerical indices and the interpolated geographical information system (GIS) mapping revealed that the quality of groundwater in most of the delta does not meet WHO guidelines for potable water. Hence, it is recommended that the groundwater of the delta should be properly treated before its use for domestic purposes. The study highlights the significance of using numerical indices and geospatial techniques for water quality evaluation in the Indus Delta and similar deltaic regions throughout the world.

The Arab region is located in an arid environment and suffers from water scarcity and poor water quality which are expected to become more severe in coming years due to global warming. In this study, the groundwater quality of 205 wells in Qatar was investigated. The physical parameters of pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), salinity, inorganic carbon (IC), and organic carbon (OC) were determined. The study characterized the concentrations of major anions of Cl, F, Br, NO3, PO4, and SO4, and major cations of Ca, K, Mg, and Na. Importantly, metals and metalloids including V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Ba, Pb, and U were determined. The results revealed that the groundwater of all wells is not drinkable due to high salinity (average TDS 4598 mg/L and salinity 0.4%, respectively). Additionally, average concentrations of major anions Cl, SO4, and F were 1472, 1064, and 1.9 mg/L, respectively, and all exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for drinking water. However, NO3 concentration in 11 out of 205 wells was above the WHO guidelines of 50 mg/L due to intensive agriculture and fertilizer applications. Major cations of Ca, K, Mg, and Na were higher than WHO guidelines with average concentrations of 345, 63, 127, and 923 mg/L, respectively. All trace metals were much lower than the WHO guidelines for drinking water; however, the vanadium (V) average concentration in groundwater of all wells was 31 μg/L, which is five times higher than the Dutch guidelines (whereas the WHO has no guidelines for V). The groundwater of Qatar is dominated by Ca and Mg sulfates in Sabkha environments and dominated by NaCl in the coastal zones from evaporate environments consisting of coastal salt flats, salt pans, estuaries, and lagoons supersaturated by salts and the influence of sea water intrusion.

Almost all water supply systems in Kabul, especially public water supply, use groundwater resources to supply the required domestic water of the city. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of drinking water in Kabul and investigate its hydrochemical characteristics. The study employed descriptive statistics, groundwater classification based on Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), major ions chemistry, and correlation matrices. The drinking water quality has been compared with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The outputs indicate that the maximum concentration for parameters exceeds the WHO threshold with different percentages. Based on EC classification, groundwater is mainly classified as permissible (about 90%). The TDS classification indicates that the majority of observed samples are admissible for drinking (about 88%). Also, most of the samples are classified as freshwater types (about 85%). The total hardness indicator of groundwater implies that about 90% of the water sample are very hard. A strong correlation exists between EC with TDS, Ca hardness with Ca, Alkalinity, and HCO3, total coliform and F. coliform, which indicates that they might have the same origin. The findings of the drinking water quality study demonstrate that the water quality in the Kabul Basin is poor, with several parameters exceeding WHO guidelines.

BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) began in 2019 with several unknown factors. The World Health Organization (WHO) subsequently developed COVID‐19 occupational safety and health (OSH) guidelines to reduce occupational COVID‐19 transmission. Many countries also developed their own COVID‐19 OSH guidelines, but whether these guidelines included WHO's guidelines and whether including WHO's guidelines in countries' COVID‐19 OSH guidelines reduced COVID‐19 transmission is unknown.ObjectivesThe objectives of our study were to (1) compare the COVID‐19 OSH guidelines of several countries to WHO's OSH guidelines, (2) estimate associations between characteristics of countries and their OSH guidelines and the number of WHO's OSH guidelines included in countries' OSH guidelines, and (3) estimate associations between WHO's OSH guidelines included in countries' OSH guidelines and COVID‐19 risk, death risk, and case‐fatality proportion.MethodsThis study represents international, ecological research of 36 countries from all six world health regions. Countries' COVID‐19 OSH guidelines were compared with WHO's OSH guidelines. Linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders were used to estimate associations of interest.ResultsThe median number of WHO's 15 COVID‐19 OSH guidelines included in countries' COVID‐19 OSH guidelines was eight. Countries' COVID‐19 OSH guidelines focused on workers included significantly more of WHO's COVID‐19 OSH guidelines than countries' COVID‐19 OSH guidelines focused on general populations. Including “provide personal protective equipment for workers” and “create workplace policy for wearing personal protective equipment” in countries' COVID‐19 OSH guidelines were significantly related to decreased COVID‐19 risk, death risk, and/or case‐fatality proportion.ConclusionsCountries' COVID‐19 OSH guidelines should include WHO's guidelines, focus on workers, and include “provide personal protective equipment for workers” and “create workplace policy for wearing personal protective equipment.”

In disasters and emergency situations, a lot of drug and medical supplies comes to the affected area from local or international donors. But, those donations often generate more problems for the recipients. The WHO and major humanitarian organisations developed WHO Guidelines for Drug Donations in 1996. The guidelines based on four core principles which are all donation should benefit the recipient, respect for wishes and authority of the recipient, there should not be a double standard in quality, and effective communication between donor and recipient. The guidelines influenced positively to drug donation practices for several years until 2004. The drug donation practices during 2004 tsunami relief in Sri Lanka and Aceh (Indonesia) showed that the compliance with WHO Guidelines for Drug Donations was low. This study aim was to strengthen the effectiveness of WHO Guidelines for Drug Donations in disaster and emergency situations. While the objectives are to explore the strength and weakness of the WHO Guidelines for Drug Donations and to recommend how to improve the effectiveness of drug donations. In this study, the WHO Guidelines for Drug Donations were analysed using the model of health policy analysis from Walt and Gilson, which is specifically used for analysing health policies. The framework is viewed as a tool to describe the interactions and interconnections systems between content, context, process and groups of actors. The author concludes that presence of donation operator team for drug donations is needed during the emergency situations and it should be stated in the WHO Guidelines for Drug Donations. The WHO needs to encourage donors and recipients to refer to WHO Guidelines for Drug Donations when they are making their own guidelines. The guidelines can be strengthened at country level and adjusted to regulations in the countries. The WHO Guidelines for Drug Donations should state that donations are preferred in form of New Emergency Health Kit (NEHK) or cash donations, and the necessity of information and communication centre in the WHO Guidelines for Drug Donations.

  This study was conducted in WondoGenet district, Southern Ethiopia to assess the water quality of rural water supply schemes in relation to the sustainability of their service delivery. 28 functional water points were selected randomly, for their assessments. The assessments included sanitary surveillance of water points and water quality analyses. Water samples were analyzed for pH, temperature, total dissolved solids, turbidity, total hardness, fecal and total coliform bacteria, fluoride, chloride, nitrate, manganese, and iron. The results obtained show that most of the 'user perceived' acceptable drinking water quality parameters were within the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for drinking water quality, based on aesthetic and taste considerations. Only one dug-well had marginally higher level of total hardness (that is, 220 mg/l of CaCO3), while four water points had higher turbidity ranging from 8.3 to 64 NTU when compared with the WHO guidelines. In all the sampled water points, the level of iron (<0.009 to 1.25 mg/l), manganese (0.10 to 1.50 mg/l), chloride (0.80 to 62.5 mg/l), and nitrate (0.90 to 12.7 mg/l) were within the WHO guidelines. Fluoride was also found to be below the WHO health based limit (<1.5 mg/l). However, majority (85.7%) of the water points had detectable levels of total coliform bacteria (1 to 68 cfu). On the other hand, it was only in 25% of the water points that fecal coliform bacteria were detected (1 to 10 cfu). This shows that the bacteriological water quality is of concern as majority of the water points had detectable levels of coliform bacteria. Therefore, regular chlorination of water points, particularly dug wells, should continue. Besides, disinfection of water at the household level can be an added advantage.   Key words: Ethiopia, quality, rural, supply, sustainability, water

The concern of drinking purposed water quality in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, and Samutprakarn provinces has been a problem for over fifteen years. Metropolitan Water Works Authority (MWA) of Thailand is fully responsible for providing water supply to the mentioned areas. The objective of Drinkable Tap Water Project is to make people realize in quality of tap water. Communities, school, government agencies, hotels, hospitals, department stores, and other organizations are participating in this project. MWA have collected at least 3 samples of water from the corresponding places and the samples have to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines level. This study is to evaluate water quality of tap water, storage water, filtered water, and filtered water dispenser. The water samples from 2,354 attending places are collected and analyzed. From October 2011 to September 2016, MWA analyzed 32,711 samples. The analyzed water parameters are free residual chlorine, appearance color, turbidity, pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), and pathogenic bacteria; E.coli. The results indicated that a number of tap water samples had the highest number compliance with WHO guidelines levels at 98.40%. The filtered water, filtered water dispenser, and storage water were received 96.71%, 95.63%, and 90.88%, respectively. However, the several samples fail to pass WHO guideline level because they were contaminated by E.coli. The result is that tap water has the highest score among other sources probably because tap water has chlorine for disinfection and always is monitored by professional team round-the-clock services compared to the other water sources with less maintenance or cleaning. Also, water quality reports are continuously sent to customers by mail addresses. Tap water quality data are shown on MWA websites and Facebook. All these steps of work should enhance the confidence of tap water quality.

The quality of drinking water is a key priority from a human health perspective. The present study was conducted to assess the physico-chemical quality of bottled drinking water marketed in Zomba City, Malawi. Seven bottled water brands were analyzed for pH, EC, TDS, K, Na, Ca, Mg, NO3-, F-, Cl- and total water hardness using standard methods. The results of the analysis were compared with Malawi Standard (MS) 560 for natural mineral water, MS 699 for bottled water other than natural mineral water, and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for drinking water. The results showed that EC, TDS, Cl-, NO3-, F-, K, Na, Ca, and Mg in all the bottled water brands complied with MS 560, MS 699, and WHO guidelines for drinking water. Further, four bottled water brands had their mean pH below the minimum MS 560 and MS 699 value of 6.5. Comparison of the analyzed water quality parameters with the reported label values showed considerable variation in both exaggeration and undervaluing. This study has also shown that all brands had low fluoride content as compared to recommended levels by MS 560 and MS 699. The paper suggests the need for strict monitoring to check bottled water quality compliance.

Ten wells in northern Mexico were analysed for 47 water quality constituents to determine the seasonal drinking water quality variations and their suitability for human consumption. Parameters examined include 25 major/trace elements analysed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Total dissolved solids, sodium and sulphate concentrations were above the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline values in 30% of wells during the first and/or the second sampling season. Additionally, only 30% of drinking water samples were found biologically unfit for drinking purpose because total and fecal coliforms were above the guideline values. The drinking water quality index of this area ranked from 'good' to 'excellent'. However, considering that some parameters are above the WHO guideline values, we recommended a monitoring program for biological and chemical pollution of drinking water in order to reach a possible solution knowing the human and ecological risks involved.

Despite significant advancements in improving access to safe drinking water, marginalized communities, particularly those relying on rivers and handpumps, continue to face challenges related to water contamination. This study provides comprehensive seasonal water quality assessments from the river and handpump in Barapita, a marginalized village in Odisha, India, using a novel Targeted Parameter Adjustment Strategy (TPAS). TPAS ranks pollutants by their Water Quality Index (WQI) contribution, then iteratively lowers the top contributor(s) to World Health Organization (WHO) permissible levels—recomputing WQI after each step—until the score falls below the “Good” (< 50) threshold, efficiently channelling resources towards the parameter whose incremental correction most improves overall water quality. When full compliance with all WHO guidelines is unrealistic, TPAS provides a practical route to safer water. The use of Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) enhanced understanding of the contamination sources, grouping parameters into clusters linked to geogenic and anthropogenic sources. We employed sensitivity analysis to identify the parameters influencing water quality during the four distinct seasons: winter, pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon. This innovative combination of TPAS, HCA, and sensitivity analysis provides deeper insights into seasonal water quality variations, providing tailored interventions in each season to improve drinking water quality in the village. The findings revealed significant seasonal variations, with the monsoon season exhibiting the highest WQI values due to runoff-induced contamination, while pre-monsoon values were lowest due to reduced anthropogenic interference. Iron, turbidity, colour, and nitrates were identified as critical parameters influencing water quality. The study’s adaptive approach effectively reduced WQI to acceptable levels by sequentially targeting the most impactful parameters, demonstrating the feasibility of low-cost, community-focused interventions in rural contexts.