Assessment of drinking water quality of Tehsil Alipur, Pakistan

Poor quality of drinking water is one of the major threats to human health. Several potential sources such as toxic chemicals, minerals, effluent outfalls from industrial facilities, waste treatment plants, and run-off from agricultural land can contaminate drinking water. To ensure the accessibility of uncontaminated and safe drinking water, its quality should be managed and monitored carefully on a regular basis. A research study was conducted to evaluate the quality of drinking water in tehsil Alipur of district Muzaffargarh, Pakistan. Water samples were collected from different sources such as tube well, hand pump, injector pump, and water supply line from 27 different locations during 2007. The samples were examined for physical, chemical, and bacteriological contamination. Five physical parameters (pH, turbidity, hardness, total dissolved solids, and conductivity) and chemical parameters including sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, chloride, nitrate, sulfate, and bicarbonate were tested for each sample and values were compared with the standards set by WHO. The results revealed that physical and chemical parameters for majority of the samples were inside the acceptable limits of WHO for drinking water. However, the study of microbial quality of water showed that, about half of the samples were bacteriologically contaminated and thus unfit for human consumption.