[Environment] Chief Editor Iftikhar A. Raja comsats institute of Information Technology Abbottabad (Pakistan)

ABSTRACT

Water resources are depleting due to intrusion of industrial pollution. The leather tanning is a major contamination causing industry which uses a lot of water and discharges it with toxic effluents. Untreated tannery effluents discharged into the environment cause severe groundwater contamination in Peshawar. This poses a problem of supply of hazard-free drinking water in the rural parts of the country. In order to assess the extent of groundwater and soil contamination, detailed analysis for groundwater and soil quality has been carried out. Ground water samples were analyzed for heavy metals by using Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (GFAAS, Analyst 700, Perkin Elmer). Groundwater samples were collected during fall 2014 from 20 sites and were analysed for the concentration of heavy metals. The concentration of chromium was above the permissible limit in 85% of the groundwater samples. The concentration of cobalt, manganese, cadmium, nickel, lead, zinc and iron in the ground water from Peshawar was also determined. The higher concentration of heavy metals in ground water recorded in Peshawar was due to the non-point sources, surface run-off, agriculture, municipal waste and the discharges from leather tanneries. The major cause of water pollution is untreated wastewater disposal from various industries which is being released into common drainage. The wastewater not only affects the surrounding land, but also changes the biochemical nature of ground water. This could be due to the presence of chemicals in tannery wastewater which contaminate and change the biochemical nature of ground water.

GWQ-07

MICROBIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF DRINKING WATER BIOFILMS USING DIFFERENT PIPE MATERIALS
Maryam Zafar, Imran Hashmi*

Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (IESE),

SCEE, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan

[e-mail], [e-mail]

ABSTRACT

Very little is concerned about the bacterial contamination in drinking water biofilm which provide a potential source for bacteria to grow and increase rapidly. So as to understand the microbial density in DWDs, a three month study was carried out. The aim of this study was to examine biofilm in three different pipe materials including Polyvinyl Chloride, Polypropylene and Galvanized Iron. A set of all these pipe materials was installed in DWDs at nine different locations and assessed on monthly basis. Drinking water quality was evaluated by different parameters and characterization of biofilm. Among various parameters are Temperature, pH, turbidity, TDS, electrical conductivity, BOD, COD, total phosphates, total nitrates, total organic carbon (TOC) free chlorine and total chlorine, coliforms and spread plate counts (SPC) according to standard methods. Predominant species were E.coli and significant increase in bacterial population was observed in GI pipes while least in PPR pipes. The quantity of DWDs bacteria was directly depended on biofilm bacteria and its increase was correlated with growth and detachment of bacteria from biofilms. Pipe material also affected the microbial community in drinking water distribution network biofilm while Similarity in bacterial species was observed between systems due to same disinfectant dose, time period and plumbing pipes.
GWQ-08

Effect of Heavy Metals from Tannery Effluent on the Groundwater using Multivariate Analysis in Muridke, Pakistan
Muhammad Ateeq*, Ikhtiar Khan*, Rakhshan Khurshid **, Asma Shaheen***

*Institute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, Pakistan

**Department of Biochemistry, Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan

*** Department of Earth Science, University of Sargodha, Pakistan

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

ABSTRACT

Water resources are depleting due to intrusion of industrial pollution. The leather tanning is a major contamination causing industry which uses a lot of water and discharges it with toxic effluents. Untreated tannery effluents discharged into the environment cause severe groundwater contamination in Muridke. This poses a problem of supply of hazard-free drinking water in the rural parts of the country. In order to assess the extent of groundwater and soil contamination, detailed analysis for groundwater and soil quality has been carried out. Ground water samples were analyzed for heavy metals by using Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (GFAAS, Analyst 700, Perkin Elmer). Groundwater samples were collected during fall 2014 from 20 sites and were analysed for the concentration of heavy metals. The concentration of chromium was above the permissible limit in 85% of the groundwater samples. The concentration of sodium, cobalt, manganese, cadmium, nickel, lead, zinc and iron in the ground water from Muridke was also determined. The higher concentration of heavy metals in ground water recorded in Muridke was due to the non-point sources, surface run-off, agriculture, municipal waste and the discharges from leather tanneries. The major cause of water pollution is untreated wastewater disposal from various industries which is being released into common drainage. The wastewater not only affects the surrounding land, but also changes the biochemical nature of ground water. This could be due to the presence of chemicals in tannery wastewater which contaminate and change the biochemical nature of ground water.
GWQ-09

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THERAPEUTIC SPRINGS WATER OF HARIPUR, KPK

Bibi Almas*, Imtiaz Hussain Memon**

Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi,

**Environmental Protection Agency, Islamabad

[e-mail], [e-mail]