Drinking water quality and human health risk in Charsadda district, Pakistan

Abstract Access to safe drinking water is one of the basic human rights and essential for healthy life. The present study investigated the concentrations of various pollutants in drinking water and health risk in Charsadda district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Water samples were collected from dug-wells, tube-wells and hand pumps which were the most common sources of drinking water and analyzed for physical parameters, anions, heavy metals and coliform bacteria using standard methods. The concentrations of nitrate (10.3–14.84 mg L −1 ) in 13 sites exceeded the permissible limit (10 mg L −1 ) set by US-EPA, while sulfate concentrations (505–555 mg L −1 ) in 9 sites exceeded the permissible limit (500 mg L −1 ) set by WHO. Similarly, the concentrations of Pb, Cd, Ni and Fe exceeded their respective permissible limits set by different organizations in some locations. Furthermore, the coliform bacterial contamination (2–5 MPN 100 mL −1 ) was also found in some sources of water, confirming the bacterial contamination of drinking water. In the study area, improper disposal of sewage and solid wastes, over application of agrochemicals (pesticides and fertilizers), deteriorating condition of piping network and transportation were the major sources responsible for contamination of drinking water. Water contamination with coliform bacteria was the main source of waterborne diseases like gastroenteritis, dysentery, diarrhea and viral hepatitis as complained by most of the respondents during questionnaire survey. In order to reduce the health risk, it is necessary to immediately stop the uses of drinking water from contaminated sources and government should supply treated/clean water with supply lines far away from solid waste, sludge and sewage sites. The farmers should be properly trained to avoid the overusing of agrochemicals responsible for drinking water contamination, while both women and men should be properly educated with water knowledge through awareness and training programs needed for sustainable use and management of drinking water.

[1]  A. Matos,et al.  Assessment of Water Systems for Contaminants from Domestic and Industrial Sewages , 2002, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[2]  P. Viet,et al.  Contamination of groundwater and risk assessment for arsenic exposure in Ha Nam province, Vietnam. , 2009, Environment international.

[3]  N. Muyima,et al.  Evaluation of the impact of household treatment procedures on the quality of groundwater supplies in the rural community of the Victoria district, Eastern Cape , 2000 .

[4]  S. A. Abu Amr,et al.  Microbial contamination of the drinking water distribution system and its impact on human health in Khan Yunis Governorate, Gaza Strip: seven years of monitoring (2000-2006). , 2008, Public health.

[5]  Y. Perrodin,et al.  Groundwater contamination by microbiological and chemical substances released from hospital wastewater: health risk assessment for drinking water consumers. , 2009, Environment international.

[6]  R. Ankumah,et al.  Nitrate contamination in private wells in rural Alabama, United States. , 2005, The Science of the total environment.

[7]  S. Wilbur,et al.  Toxicological profile for nickel , 2005 .

[8]  van der Woerd Kf,et al.  Integrated Criteria Document Fluorides , 1989 .

[9]  Deanna Kemp,et al.  Mining, water and human rights: making the connection. , 2010 .

[10]  D. Lowry,et al.  Arsenic and other drinking water quality issues, Muzaffargarh district, Pakistan , 2005 .

[11]  W. A. Pettyjohn,et al.  Contamination of ground water , 1990 .

[12]  J. Bredehoeft,et al.  Groundwater contamination. , 1984, Science.

[13]  G. Tamasi,et al.  Heavy metals in drinking waters from Mount Amiata (Tuscany, Italy). Possible risks from arsenic for public health in the Province of Siena. , 2004, The Science of the total environment.

[14]  Rolf Krebs,et al.  Heavy metal contamination in the vicinity of an industrial area near Bucharest , 2009, Environmental science and pollution research international.

[15]  K. Bakker.  The “Commons” Versus the “Commodity”: Alter‐globalization, Anti‐privatization and the Human Right to Water in the Global South , 2007 .

[16]  Mark Payne.  Lead in drinking water , 2008, Canadian Medical Association Journal.

[17]  K. Ho,et al.  Chemical and microbiological qualities of The East River (Dongjiang) water, with particular reference to drinking water supply in Hong Kong. , 2003, Chemosphere.

[18]  N. H. Rao,et al.  Decision support framework for assessment of non-point-source pollution of groundwater in large irrigation projects , 2005 .

[19]  Tsuguyoshi Suzuki,et al.  Toxicology of metals , 1996 .

[20]  M. Clement,et al.  A practical model for estimating total lead intake from drinking water , 2000 .

[21]  M. Hirschi,et al.  Subsurface water quality from a flat tile-drained watershed in Illinois, USA , 2006 .

[22]  A. E. Greenberg,et al.  Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater : supplement to the sixteenth edition , 1988 .

[23]  S. Rapant,et al.  Health risk assessment maps for arsenic groundwater content: application of national geochemical databases , 2007, Environmental geochemistry and health.

[24]  Mohammad Wahid Ansari,et al.  The legal status of in vitro embryos , 2014 .

[25]  Analysis of Water Environment in The Xinjiang Arid Region , 2002 .

[26]  Abrahan Mora,et al.  Survey of trace metals in drinking water supplied to rural populations in the eastern Llanos of Venezuela. , 2009, Journal of environmental management.

[27]  P. O'neill.  Geochemistry and the environment, vol. II. The relation of other selected trace elements to health and disease , 1979 .

[28]  David Saurí,et al.  A comparative appraisal of the use of rainwater harvesting in single and multi-family buildings of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (Spain): social experience, drinking water savings and economic costs , 2011 .

[29]  J B Kaneene,et al.  The effects of nitrate, nitrite, and N-nitroso compounds on animal health. , 1993, Veterinary and human toxicology.

[30]  G. Adami,et al.  In vitro absorption of metal powders through intact and damaged human skin. , 2009, Toxicology in vitro : an international journal published in association with BIBRA.

[31]  F. Krug,et al.  Effect of lead on dental enamel formation. , 2002, Toxicology.

[32]  Tineke E. Lambooy,et al.  Corporate social responsibility: sustainable water use , 2011 .

[33]  Said Muhammad,et al.  Health risk assessment of heavy metals and their source apportionment in drinking water of Kohistan region, northern Pakistan , 2011 .

[34]  Abhishek Gupta,et al.  Recurrent acute respiratory tract infections in areas with high nitrate concentrations in drinking water. , 2000, Environmental health perspectives.

[35]  Xi Huang.  Iron overload and its association with cancer risk in humans: evidence for iron as a carcinogenic metal. , 2003, Mutation research.