PJB-2021-490
ASSESSMENT OF DRINKING WATER QUALITY AND ASSOCIATED SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS IN ARID MOUNTAINOUS REGION OF PAKISTAN
Muhammad Asif Saeed
Abstract
We investigated the quality of drinking water and its possible effects on human health in District Dera Ghazi Khan (D. G. Khan), Pakistan. Samples were collected from three tehsils of D. G. Khan district namely D. G. Khan, Kot-Chutta and Taunsa. Total 50 samples (n=50) were collected from the study area using standard procedures. It was recorded that pH of water samples ranged from 6.52 - 8.75, EC 0.31 - 9.78 dS m-1 and TDS 105 - 985 mg L-1. The bacterial analysis showed that 9 out of 50 samples (18% samples) contained pathogenic E. coli bacterial. Results showed that pH and EC values of some sampling sites were exceeding the WHO guidelines for drinking water. It was observed that the pH of only 1 sample while EC of 18 samples in D. G. Khan, 5 in Kot Chutta and 16 in Tehsil Taunsa were exceeding WHO guidelines. In terms of E. coli presence and related diseases (hepatitis A, B and C), we collected data of 1378 patients receiving treatment related to hepatitis A, B and C which were screened and belonged to the sampling sites. It was revealed that 530 patients were belonged to D. G. Khan site followed by Taunsa (460) and Kot Chutta (388). Based on the results, it was concluded that the quality of drinking water samples was good except 6% of the samples each against sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and Kelly’s ratio (KR) as well as positive E. coli of 9 sites.
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