Groundwater Quality and Health Risk Assessment in Rural Areas of District Jaffarabad, Baluchistan (Pakistan)

Water quality has considerable impact on public health especially in areas where access to safe drinking water is very difficult. Keeping in view, drinking water quality in rural areas of district, Jaffarabad was assessed by evaluating 50 groundwater and 25 surface water samples for various physicochemical parameters (color, odour, taste, conductivity, pH, turbidity, alkalinity, hardness and TDS), metallic elements (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe and As) and microbiological organisms (total coliform and faecal coliform) employing standard methods. Analysis data revealed high level of microbial contamination as 62 and 84% water samples contained total coliform and 58 and 80% samples were having faecal coliform in groundwater and surface water samples, respectively. On the other hand 12, 36, 44, 14, 50 & 32% and 84, 32, 32, 20, 44 & 60% water samples were having higher turbidity, hardness, TDS, Cl-, SO4-2 and Fe in ground and surface water samples respectively. Health risk assessment data due to high content of Fe and As showed that mean chronic daily intake (CDI) and health risk index (HRI) for As was higher than Fe in both surface and groundwater samples, whereas calculated HRI for all water samples is less than 1. Other than this, CDI and HRI values for Fe in surface water samples are higher than groundwater samples.