Abstract
More than 7 million people of Lahore city, Pakistan, use groundwater for drinking and other household purposes. The quality of drinking water from source and distribution system was investigated, and the hydrochemical characteristics and formation mechanisms of groundwater were analyzed. Statistical summary showed higher mean values of major descriptors in distributed groundwater samples compared with source groundwater samples. A total of 50 drinking water samples (16 from source, and 34 from distribution system) were examined for physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters, including pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, total hardness, total alkalinity, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, SO4 2−, Cl−, NO3 −, F−, arsenic (As) chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). Varying concentrations of trace amounts of Cr (in 8 samples), Fe (18 samples), Cu (18 samples), Zn (13 samples) and Pb (14 samples) were detected. However, the detected trace elements were within the WHO permissible limits for drinking water except Pb where 5 out of 14 samples showed higher than WHO limit value (Pb > 0.01 mg/L). 19 out of 50 samples (6 from source and 13 from distributed samples) showed high values of alkalinity (>250 mg/L). All of 16 groundwater samples from source exceeded 0.01 mg/L WHO limit value for arsenic (As). On the basis of bacteriological analysis, 42 % samples (12 % from source, 55 % from distribution) did not meet WHO guidelines and were unsafe for drinking, especially distributed groundwater samples. Mg–HCO3 contents predominated the groundwater type followed by Ca–HCO3. Carbonate weathering was revealed to be the dominant process controlling dissolution/precipitation processes. PHREEQC modeling showed that the aqueous phase was undersaturated with respect to significant gypsum, halite and mirabilite while equilibrium to saturated with respect to aragonite, calcite and dolomite was observed. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the concentration of As was strongly associated with that of SO4 2−. Reductive dissolution and pH-dependent desorption are the plausible processes responsible for the observed high As concentrations in Lahore.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbas Z (2011) Annual report for drinking water analysis 2009 Lahore–Pakistan-monitoring of drinking water. VDM, Germany (ISBN-13: 978-3639324174)
Abbas Z (2011) Quality control analysis of drinking water from different locations: quality of drinking water of Lahore Pakistan. VDM, Germany (ISBN-13: 978-3639366105)
Abbas Z (2012) A comprehensive study of arsenic in drinking water of Lahore–Pakistan. Lambert, USA (ISBN-13:978-3-659-11173-0)
Allison JD, Brown DS, Novo-Gradac KJ (1991) MINTEQA2, a geochemical assessment model for environmental systems. Report EPA/600/3-91/0-21. USEPA, Athens, Georgia
APHA (2012) Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water, 22nd edn. American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association and Water Environment Federation, Washington, DC
Ayedun H, Taiwo AM, Umar BF, Oseni OA, Oderinde AA (2011) Assessment of groundwater contamination by toxic metals in Ifo, Southwestern Nigeria. Indian J Sci Technol 4(7):820–823
Burton ED, Johnston SG, Planer-Friedrich B (2013) Coupling of arsenic mobility to sulfur transformations during microbial sulfate reduction in the presence and absence of humic acid. Chem Geol 343:12–24
Chae GT, Yun ST, Mayer B, Kim KH, Kim SY, Kwon JS, Kim K, Koh YK (2007) Fluorine geochemistry in bedrock groundwater of South Korea. Sci Total Environ 385(1):272–283
Dindane K, Bouchaou L, Hsissou Y, Krimissa M (2003) Hydrochemical and isotopic characteristics of groundwater in the Souss Upstream Basin, southwestern Morocco. J Afr Earth Sci 36:315–327
Farooqi A, Masuda H, Firdous N (2007) Toxic fluoride and arsenic contaminated groundwater in the Lahore and Kasur districts, Punjab, Pakistan and possible contaminant sources. Environ Pollut 145(3):839–849
Gao X, Su C, Wang Y, Hu Q (2013) Mobility of arsenic in aquifer sediments at Datong Basin, northern China: effect of bicarbonate and phosphate. J Gecohecm Explor 135:93–103
Garg VK, Suthar S, Singh S, Sheoran A, Jain S (2009) Drinking water quality in villages of southwestern Haryana, India: assessing human health risks associated with hydrochemistry. Environ Geol 58(6):1329–1340
Gomez ML, Blarasin MT, Martìnez DE (2009) Arsenic and fluoride in a loess aquifer in the central area of Argentina. Environ Geol 57:143–155
Guo HM, Wang YX (2005) Geochemical characteristics of shallow groundwater in Datong basin, northwestern China. Geochem Explor 87:109–120
Kahlown MA, Tahir MA (2007) Training manual for water supply managers and technicians. Pakistan council of research in water resources, Islamabad
Kortasi BK, Tay CK, Anornu G, Hayford E, Dartey GA (2008) Hydrochemical evaluation of groundwater in lower Offin basin, Ghana. Environ Geol 53:1651–1662
Lehtola MJ, Miettinen IT, Keinänen MM, Kekki TK, Laine O, Hirvonen A, Vartiainen T, Martikainen PJ (2004) Microbiology, chemistry and biofilm development in a pilot drinking water distribution system with copper and plastic pipes. Water Res 38(17):3769–3779
Mapoma HWT, Xie X (2014) Basement and alluvial aquifers of Malawi: an overview of groundwater quality and policies. Afr J Environ Sci Technol 8:190–202
Mapoma HWT, Xie X, Zhang L (2014) Redox control on trace element geochemistry and provenance of groundwater in fractured basement of Blantyre, Malawi. J Afr Earth Sci 100:335–345
Muhammad KA, Muhammad TA (2008) Fifth water quality monitoring report 2005–2006. PCRWR, Islamabad
Mukherjee A, Fryar AE (2008) Deeper groundwater chemistry and geochemical modeling of the arsenic affected western Bengal basin, West Bengal, India. Appl Geochem 23(4):863–894
Mukherjee A, Fryar AE, Thomas WA (2009) Geologic, geomorphic and hydrologic framework and evolution of the Bengal basin, India and Bangladesh. J Asian Earth Sci 34(3):227–244
Nickson RT, McArthur JM, Shrestha B, Kyaw-Myint TO, Lowry D (2005) Arsenic and other drinking water quality issues, Muzaffargarh District, Pakistan. Appl Geochem 20(1):55–68
Parkhurst DL, Appelo CAJ (1999) User’s guide to PHREEQC (Version 2)—a computer program for speciation, batch-reaction, one-dimensional transport and inverse geochemical calculations. US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey. Water Resources Investigation Rept (99-4259)
Postma D, Jessen S, Hue NTM, Duc MT, Koch CB, Viet PH, Nhan PQ, Larsen F (2010) Mobilization of arsenic and iron from Red River floodplain sediments, Vietnam. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 74:3367–3381
Rafique T, Naseem S, Bhanger MI, Usmani TH (2008) Fluoride ion contamination in the groundwater of Mithi sub-district, the Thar Desert, Pakistan. Environ Geol 56(2):317–326
Ram S, Vajpayee P, Shanker R (2008) Contamination of potable water distribution systems by multiantimicrobial-resistant enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. Environ Health Perspect 116(4):448
Regan JM, Harrington GW, Baribeau H, Leon RD, Noguera DR (2003) Diversity of nitrifying bacteria in full-scale chloraminated distribution systems. Water Res 37(1):197–205
Smedley PL, Kinniburgh DG (2002) A review of the source, behavior and distribution of arsenic in natural waters. Appl Geochem 17:517–568
Vreeburg JHG, Schaap P (2004) Measuring discoloration risk: resuspention potential method. In: Second IWA leading-edge conference on water and wastewater treatment technologies. IWA, London, UK
Wang Y, Shvartsev SL, Su C (2009) Genesis of arsenic/fluoride-enriched soda water: a case study at Datong, northern China. Appl Geochem 24:641–649
WHO (2011) Guidelines for drinking-water quality, 4th edn. World Health Organization, Geneva. ISBN 978 92 4 154815 1
Williams MM, Braun-Howland EB (2003) Growth of Escherichia coli in model distribution system biofilms exposed to hypochlorous acid or monochloramine. Appl Environ Microbiol 69(9):5463–5471
Xie X, Wang Y, Su C, Liu H, Duan M, Xie Z (2008) Arsenic mobilization in shallow aquifers of Datong Basin: hydro chemical and mineralogical evidences. Geochem Explor 98(3):107–115
Xie X, Wang Y, Su C (2012) Hydrochemical and sediment biomarker evidence of the impact of organic matter biodegradation on arsenic mobilization in shallow aquifers of Datong basin, China. Water Air Soil Pollut 223:483–498
Zia MA, Khalil-ur-Rehman FA, Latif R (2005) Microbiological and chemical aspects of drinking water and treatment to enhanced its quality. J Res Sci 16(1):11–18
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the material support from Institute of Chemistry University of Punjab, Lahore, and Water and Sanitation Agency Lahore, Pakistan. The research work was jointly supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40802058) and Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2012AA062602). The authors would like to appreciate the reviewers and editors for their helpful comments and suggestion.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
This research has neither been submitted in part or whole to any journal nor published elsewhere. Furthermore, we declare that there is no conflict of interest. The authors have made utmost efforts to acknowledgement source of funding. Ethical considerations during sampling and data interpretation were followed.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abbas, Z., Su, C., Tahira, F. et al. Quality and hydrochemistry of groundwater used for drinking in Lahore, Pakistan: analysis of source and distributed groundwater. Environ Earth Sci 74, 4281–4294 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4432-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4432-5