DefinePK

Abstract

The current study was conducted to explore the physicochemical characteristics, light and heavy metal concentrations in drinking water of the selected area of Lower Dir, Pakistan. In the study area, no such study about the assessment of drinking water quality has been carried out. The people of Lower Dir are unaware about the quality of water and adverse impacts of contaminated water. The research work will provide base for the awareness campaign regarding the importance of pure and safe drinking water quality. For this purposes, the water samples (n=22) were collected and analyzed for various parameters. Among the physical parameters the pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), salinity and temperature, while in chemical parameters the alkalinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness, chlorides (Cl-), and sulfates were determined. Light metals such as magnesium (Mg+2), calcium (Ca+2), sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+) and heavy metals included lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) were analyzed in the collected samples. The results showed that all the parameters were within the permissible limits set by World Health Organization (WHO) and Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) except hardness (351.44 mg/L). The light metals were within the permissible limit except Mg+2 (308.60 mg/L) that exceeded the permissible limits of WHO and Pak-EPA, while Ca+2 (53.71 mg/L) exceeded the permissible limit of WHO. The heavy metal results showed that all the metals were within permissible limit except Cr (0.18 mg/L) and Pb (0.04 mg/L). The health risk assessment like Average Daily Dose (ADD) and Hazard Quotient (HQ) were calculated for heavy metals. All heavy metals in drinking water samples indicated no health risk (CDI and HQ<1).