Abstract

Drinking Water Quality in 13 Different Districts of Sindh, Pakistan

Khan S, Aziz T, Noor-Ul-Ain, Ahmed K, Ahmed I, Nida and Akbar SS

This study was intended to assess the quality of drinking water in thirteen different cities of Sindh, Pakistan. The Clean Drinking Water is a great ecological determinant of Health. Contaminated water isn't simply messy, it’s destructive. About 1.8 million individuals die every year because of diarrheal infections like cholera. A huge number of others are truly sickened by a large group of water-related illnesses, a considerable lot of which are effectively preventable. An absence of appropriate sanitation administrations not just breeds diseases; it can deny individuals of their fundamental human dignity. The quality of drinking water suffers from many factors, these include excessive amounts of microbes or chemicals derived from human and animal wastes, agricultural runoff, industrial chemicals, and even natural pollutants. Drinking water samples collected from different cities of Sindh including Karachi, Hyderabad, Shikarpur, Sukkar, Badin, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Mirpurkhas, Mithi, Tharparkar, Sanghar and Thatta. Samples were analyzed for various water quality parameters such color, odor, taste, alkalinity, Bicarbonate, Calcium, Carbonate Turbidity, Chloride, Conductivity, Hardness as CaCO3, Magnesium, pH, Potassium, Sodium, TDS(Total Dissolved Solids), Sulphate, Nitrate and microbial contamination (Total coliforms and Escherichia coli). Our result shows that in some cities like Badin, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Mirpurkhas, Mithi, Tharparkar (without RO) Sangar, Thatta, water is unfit for drinking purpose as water quality parameters exceeding the prescribed standard values. Total viable count test was performed for microbial analysis and it was found that the sample from Badin, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Sanghar and Thatta were heavily loaded by the microbial growth of faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli. Whereas in other cities includes Karachi, Hyderabad, Shikarpur, Sukkur; water quality parameters fall within the prescribed standard values and no faecal contamination was found.