Drinking Water Quality Assessment in Khulna City Corporation Slum Area

Abstract

Drinking water is characterized as free from microorganisms, terribly toxic compounds and that have no adverse effects on health. Waterbome disease is a major concern of public health and it is important to know the microbial as well as the physico-chemical qualities of drinking water. This study was conducted to assess the quality and suitability of groundwater for drinking purposes in different slum area of Khulna City Corporation (KCC) and explored the variation of bacteriological status of water between sources (deep Tube-wells) and household stored water. The study was conducted from July 22, to August 28, 2016. A total of 100 samples; 50 from sources and other 50 samples from household storage vessels were collected for exploring physico-chemical and bacteriological status. The parameters that were investigated found to have variation in the range of pH 7.4 to 8.55 was slightly basic, electrical conductivity 544 tS/cm to 2.21 mS/cm; Hardness 50 to 650 as CaCO3 considered, hardness classification shows that maximum sample are hard type and very hard type. Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) 281 to 1176 mg/L, However, TDS classification of GW shows that maximum samples lie within good (300-600 mg/L), Chloride 31.68 to 721 mg/L, As <LOQ (Limit of Quantitation) mg/L to 0.02 mg/L, Fe 0.01 to 0.91 mg/L and Mn 0.01 to 0.68 mg/L. Comparing to WHO and BDS guideline, few of the water sources found to have one or more trace metals (Fe, As and Mn) levels outside acceptable limit set for drinking water. Most of them however have levels safe for human consumption. Physico-chemical parameters of maximum samples were satisfactory and met the standard guideline value of drinking water of BDS and WHO. However few samples from Khalishpur and Daulatpur industrial area, Khulna were beyond the limit recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and Bangladesh Drinking Standard (BDS). The samples were examined bacteriological status, total coliform (TC), fecal coliform (FC) were counted in different samples. Result shows that 74% TWs provide FC free water where only 10% household water sample was found FC free. At the same time 19% TWs provide TC free water where no household water sample was found TC free. In all household samples and 29 TWs samples, the TC and FC counts were above the recommended limit of WHO for drinking water quality (0 CFU/100mL for TC, 0 CFU/100mL for FC). It is very much alarming that both FC and TC in household storage VS water were considerably higher than those from sources. High level of coliform bacteria in water sources of these study area confirmed the presence of pathogenic organisms that generate a threat to people who consume this waters. This is may be due the to lack of good water treatment, lack of the protection of the water sources, unhealthy sewerage conditions, improper water handling practices, unhealthy sanitation, poor housing condition, dirty containers, improper waste management and illiteracy of slum dwellers. Thus, safety of water sources accompanied by sanitation and hygiene promotion programs and health education along with regular water quality monitoring can improve the water quality of slum area.