Abstract:
Groundwater is one of the most valuable natural resources that supports the economy, development and health. Due to industrial development, quality of ground water is being affected. It is important to protect the natural quality of ground water. In this study, water quality analysis of Faisalabad was carried out. Thirty-six samples were taken from the boreholes. Fifteen samples were collected from the source (tube wells) and 34 samples from consumer points of WASA. In order to identify the relationship between water quality and health, statistical data was collected from two major hospitals of Faisalabad; Allied and DHQ. These samples were then tested in WASA lab to determine various water quality parameters that includes pH, turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids, electrical conductivity, chloride, fluoride, calcium, magnesium, total hardness, fecal and total coliforms and the results were compared with WHO standards. The results were then analyzed in ArcMap using geostatistical analysis tools among which IDW with different powers, kriging and Spline with Tension of RBF were used and their root mean square errors were compared. Kriging showed the least root mean square but IDW with power 4 gave the smooth interpolation. Water quality Index was generated for WASA supply and ground water. Comparison of both WQI maps showed that ground water of Faisalabad is unfit for drinking and its direct use may cause health issues whereas WASA Supply is fit for drinking or direct use.
