PHYSICOCHEMICAL ASSESSMENT OF SOIL AND DRINKING WATER QUALITY; A CASE STUDY OF URBAN AREA OF GREEN TOWN, LAHORE

Abstract

Environmental quality is greatly focused on water and soil. The purpose of this research was to assess and compare the ground water and soil quality of Green Town, Lahore with World Health Organization (WHO) standards. A total of 27 samples were obtained from seven locations namely IC-I, 3C-II, 5C-II, ID-II, 2D-I, 2D-II and 3D-I. Physicochemical parameters were examined and correlation analysis was applied to check association among parameters. Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) technique was used to create maps. Results showed that sodium (287.35 ppm) and bicarbonate (518.67 ppm) in soil collected from location 3D-I and 5C-II, respectively exceeded WHO standards that showed these two locations are unsuitable for agriculture purpose. In water samples total dissolved solids (1423.3 ppm), hardness (723 ppm), chloride (323 ppm), and sulfate (255.6 ppm) for location 3C-II and magnesium (70ppm) for 3D-I exceeded WHO standards. It showed that water in majority of the test area was safe for consumption except of location 3C-II.