Quality of drinking water from filtration plants in Rawalpindi region of Pakistan
Paper Details
Quality of drinking water from filtration plants in Rawalpindi region of Pakistan
Abstract
Majority of our population does not have access to clean drinking water in Pakistan. Quality of tap water is highly unreliable and people use water from filtration plants installed by the Punjab government for drinking purpose. The purpose of this study was to analyze the quality of drinking water from twelve filtration plants in Rawalpindi region. Fifteen parameters were studied including EC, magnesium, calcium, turbidity, lead, zinc, manganese, chromium, sulfate, nitrate, chloride, hardness, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and Fecal coliform bacteria. Analytical work was carried out in in the Department of Soil Science, PMAS- Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi. It was noted that nitrate concentration was high in five water samples. No water sample was found contaminated with fecal coliform bacteria. EC, pH, calcium, sodium, turbidity, sulfate and dissolved oxygen were found as per WHO guidelines. Manganese and zinc were either not detected or they were in small amounts which was within safe limit. Cr content ranged from 0.098 to 1.26 mg/L while Pb content in two water samples was 0.09 and 0.129 mg/L respectively. It was concluded from this study that 80% of drinking water samples were fit for drinking purpose and 20% drinking water samples were unfit for drinking because of high concentration of chromium and Pb. There is immediate need to resort to protective measures and treatment technologies to deal with high chromium content of drinking water.
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