Open AccessEvaluation of Groundwater Quality for Heavy Metals by Using Chemical Indices Approach in Karachi, Pakistan
Author(s) -
Аziz Ur Rаhmаn,
Haq Nawaz Abbasi,
Muhammad Owais
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pakistan journal of analytical and environmental chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.155
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 2221-5255
pISSN - 1996-918X
DOI - 10.21743/pjaec/2021.12.14
Subject(s) - groundwater , pollution , environmental science , heavy metals , contamination , water quality , environmental engineering , groundwater pollution , population , environmental chemistry , index (typography) , water resource management , hydrology (agriculture) , aquifer , chemistry , geology , environmental health , ecology , medicine , geotechnical engineering , world wide web , computer science , biology
Freshwater consumption has been increased because of population growth and economic development. At the same time, depletion and contamination of groundwater is subject of great concern. Karachi is the industrial hub and serves as the economic backbone of Pakistan. The research aims to investigate the heavy metal pollution in the groundwater of Korangi Industrial Area, one of the largest industrial estates in Karachi. Eighteen representative locations were selected to collect groundwater samples and study the concentrations of heavy metals Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb. Pollution load index, Nemerow's pollution index, and geo accumulation index approaches were used to interpret the basic data. The average concentrations of the measured heavy metals were 354.67 µg.L-1 , 694.33 µg.L-1 , 39.2 µg.L-1 , 12.89 µg.L-1 , 9.5 µg.L-1 , and 6.17 µg.L-1 for Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, and Ni, respectively. The results showed that groundwater quality in the study area is poor and mainly contaminated by Pb and Fe.