Abstract
The present study involves the chemical and bacteriological analysis of water from different sources i.e., bore, wells, bottle, and tap, from Peshawar, Mardan, Swat and Kohat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Pakistan. From each district, 50 water samples (10 samples from each source), regardless of urban and rural status, were collected from these sources and analysed for sulphates, nitrates, nitrites, chlorides, total soluble solids and coliforms (E. coli). Results indicated that majority of the water sources had unacceptable E. coli count i.e.> 34 CFU/100mL. E. coli positive samples were high in Mardan District, followed by Kohat, Swat and Peshawar district. Besides this, the some water sources were also chemically contaminated by different inorganic fertilizers (nitrates/nitrites of sodium, potassium) but under safe levels whereas agricultural and industrial wastes (chloride and sulphate compounds) were in unsafe range. Among all districts, the water quality was found comparatively more deteriorated in Kohat and Mardan districts than Peshawar and Swat districts. Such chemically and bacteriologically unfit water sources for drinking and can cause human health problems.
Highlights
Contaminated water is known as one of the major health risks in Pakistan (Ahmad et al, 2012a)
In Peshawar district, of 50 samples, 22 (44%) samples were positive for total coliform and 14were positive for E. coli
The highest value of bacterial contamination was recorded in bore water/hand-pumps water 6 (60%), tap water and hotel water followed by well water 4 (40%) and bottle water 0%
Summary
Contaminated water is known as one of the major health risks in Pakistan (Ahmad et al, 2012a). In addition to microbial contamination, anions and cations in high quantity such as nitrates, nitrites, sulphates, and chlorides cause serious threats to human and animal health. According to World Health Organization (WHO) and Pakistan Research Council in Water Resources (PCRWR), nitrite and nitrate levels greater than 1-3 mg/L and 10-50 mg/L, respectively, can pose a risk to humans. It is gains entry through ingestion only – drinking, cooking, teeth brushing (Rashid et al, 2018). Chloride ions are potential cause of bad taste and hypertension because of its presence along with sodium ions Addition to these studied ions, presence of sulphate ions in drinking water causes a laxative effect and dehydration. These ions, more than their standard limits, can cause major impact on human health (Feldman et al, 2007)
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