Assessment of Groundwater Quality and its Relationship with Human Health: A Case Study of Industrial Area Sialkot, Pakistan

Abstract

Groundwater pollution is of high concern due to industrialization and exponential increase in population. Most of the third world countries do not have environmental protection policies and even if they have, they are not implemented. Due to which hazardous industrial waste is released in open surface streams, rivers or dug holes. Sialkot considered a industrialize hub of Pakistan is suffering from groundwater pollution due to long term rapid industrialization. To determine the extent of groundwater pollution a study was designed to (1) analyze the Physico- chemical and heavy metal properties of groundwater samples, (2) conduct a field survey of health issues related to groundwater quality in the industrial area. A total of 35 samples of groundwater were collected from community Tube wells, and hand pumps of different sites of Sialkot city. Global Positioning System (GPS) was used for recording the coordinates of sample locations. Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) techniques was used for the interpolation of ground water quality data. The result indicates that pH value ranged from 5.3-9.13, TDS 147-651ppm, EC 195-1676 μS/cm, and Turbidity 0.01-10.5 Nephelometric turbidity units. Values for Arsenic, Chromium and Lead ranges from 0-4.98 ppm, 0.01-3.99 ppm, and 0-3.94 ppm respectively. Results indicated that arsenic 68.5% of the data points, 34% of Lead samples, and 57% Chromium samples exceeded the WHO permissible limits. The hospital patient data indicate that the associated health impacts due to consumption of contaminated water include disease including diarrheal diseases, pulmonary illness, tumors, neurological issues, and coronary heart disease were found to be prevalent. The results of this study could be used to build and construct wastewater treatment plant facilities for the District Sialkot reducing contaminant seepage rates into groundwater.