Groundwater status in Pakistan: A review of contamination, health risks, and potential needs

ABSTRACT

We examined the current groundwater (used for drinking) quality in Pakistan after implementation of Millennium Development Goals, including contaminants, their sources, and relevant health impacts. The drinking water quality parameters of most of the reported results exceeded the guidelines suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) and National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS). Natural sources of groundwater contamination have been activated due to anthropogenic activities like mining, and open dumping of industrial and domestic wastes which lead to poor groundwater quality. Globally, 780 million people, and 100 million people in Pakistan are exposed to unsafe water sources. Therefore, this review demonstrates the potential needs to achieve the safe drinking water goal of the Agenda 2030. The development of a proper monitoring network, installation of treatment plants, and implementation of legislations are recommended in this review.

KEYWORDS:

• Contamination sources
• groundwater
• groundwater quality
• human health risk
• management needs
• monitoring network

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (No. NRF-2015R1A4A1041105).