Enviornmental Sciences

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Browsing Enviornmental Sciences by Author "FATIMA BILAL"

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    ASSESSMENT OF DRINKING WATER QUALITY IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF URBAN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN
    (Kinnaitd College for women Enviornmental Science Departement, 0024-01-18) FATIMA BILAL
    The availability of safe drinking water is necessary for healthy life but access to safe drinking water has become a major problem around the world, especially in developing countries like Pakistan. Young children are more vulnerable to the health impacts due to contaminated water which often lead to waterborne diseases, affecting the overall well-being of students The study’s goal was to assess the drinking water quality in primary schools of Punjab, and 17 of physio chemical and bacteriological parameters were considered to determine the water quality. For analysis, 300 samples of drinking water were collected from primary public schools registered in urban areas across 36 districts of Punjab.The findings revealed that majority of the water quality parameters were within the permissible limits with reference to the physicochemical parameters.The measured pH for water samples ranged from 7 to 10. Majority of the samples had pH within the limit. Noticeable variation was observed in the turbidity levels of the collected samples from tap as compared to the samples collected from the tanks. The turbidity levels ranged between 8.22 NTU and 10.25 NTU.7.3% of the samples exceeded the permissible limit of WHO for turbidity. The maximum TSS value i.e 670 mg/l was observed in the samples collected from Vehari.For TDS,15.6 % of the samples exceeded the limit.In addition, colonies of E. Coli and fecal coliform were detected in majority of the samples. Moreover, in some samples colonies of E. Coli and colonies of fecal coliform were uncountable.The highest value of F- was observed in the samples of Sialkot(7.2 mg/L).21% of the samples exceeded the limit set by WHO and NDWQS. The highest detected concentration for As was 67.21 µg/l with 55 % of the samples exceeded the permissible limit which is 10ug/l.The Cancer Risk(CR) values ranged from 0.1863 to 7.787. The calculated CR values were significantly higher than the permissible limit of 10 to 6 set by USEPA. Drinking Water Quality Index categorized, 0.66 % asexcellent,10.3%, 19%, 11.3%, 8% and 1% water samples as good, fair,poor,very poor and unfitfor drinking respectively. The questionnaire survey also indicated that 52% of the studentssuffered from cholera and typhoid while, 46% suffered from other waterborne diseases