Evaluation of Groundwater Quality and its Impact on Human Health: A Case Study of SITE Area Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Water is an essential natural resource that is necessary to support life. As heavy metals are toxic to ecosystems and public health, groundwater contamination by these pollutants is one of the most significant issues. The largest industrial city in Pakistan is Karachi. The study area selected for this research is the SITE area in Karachi. In the past, several studies have been carried out for this area but none of the studies has highlighted the water quality index and heavy metals relation with waterborne diseases. That’s why we have selected the SITE area to analyze the Physio-chemical and heavy metal properties of groundwater samples and to conduct a field survey of health issues related to groundwater quality in the industrial area for that purpose groundwater samples have been collected. A random approach of sampling has been used. After that Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), has been used for the estimation of As, Fe, Co, Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, K, and Ni in groundwater samples. Other Physio chemical properties like pH, TDS (Total dissolved solids), EC, and Temperature for water samples have been calculated using pH meter, TDS meter, and EC meter. The Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation technique (IDWI) has been used. The Water Quality Index (WQI) has been calculated using four different WQI indices and a WQI map has been generated. Rapid industrialization and urbanization degraded the surface and ground water. Mean values of As=0.02ppm, Cd=3.67ppm, Co=35.56ppm, Fe=46.67ppm, K=34.03, Ni=0.03ppm, Pb=0.01 while Zn, Cr and Cu were found within the WHO limits. Mean values of EC and TDS are 5688.68uS/cm and 9481.83ppm respectively. Contaminated water is linked to transmission of diseases. Results revealed that diarrhea was found 27%, followed by skin diseases 24.3% and high blood pressure 16.6 % were found very prevalent among the respondents of the SITE area.