Assessing the physico-chemical parameters and some metals of underground water and associated soil in the arid and semiarid regions of Tank District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 193; no. 9; p. 610
• Main Authors: Khan, Asif, Naeem, Muhammad, Bilal, Muhammad, Khan, Abbas, Subhan, Fazle, Ikram, Muhammad, Shah, Muhammad Ishaq Ali, Ullah, Saleem, Ullah, Asmat, Ullah, Atta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-09-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Absorption spectroscopy; Arid regions; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Atomic absorption analysis; Atomic absorption spectroscopy; Boreholes; Chromium; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Dissolved solids; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental monitoring; Environmental perception; Environmental protection; Environmental science; Food quality; Groundwater; Groundwater pollution; Groundwater table; Hand pumps; Heavy metals; Iron; Metals; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Parameters; Semi arid areas; Semiarid lands; Semiarid zones; Soil; Soil pollution; Soil water; Soils; Spectral analysis; Spectrometry; Tidal bores; Total dissolved solids; Water depth; Water quality; Water table; Pakistan; Soil; Atomic absorption spectrometer; Heavy metals; Underground water; Pearson correlation coefficient
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-021-09370-x

Good-quality water and food are the basic needs of humans, plants, and animals. Polluted groundwater and soil directly and indirectly affect organisms, which is the main environmental concern. In the current study, standard protocols of atomic absorption spectrometry were adopted for the investigation of selected metals (lead, chromium, and iron) in the collected groundwater and soil samples. The Pearson correlation coefficient (
r
) applied to groundwater and soil samples shows a positive perfect correlation among water parameters (conductivity and total dissolved solids) in all three sources. In the hand pump samples between water table (WT) and water source depth (WSD), Pearson correlation coefficient (
r
) value was found (
r
 = 0.87) while between EC and TDS, it was
r
 = 1. Similarly, in the bore hole samples between WT and WSD (
r
 = 0.66), EC and TDS (
r
 = 1), EC and Cr (
r
 = 0.70), and TDS and Cr (
r
 = 0.70), which showed weaker correlation. In the tube well samples, correlation between EC and TDS was high (
r
 = 1). The correlation coefficient (
r
) values of the soil parameters in the hand pump (soil) samples between Fe and Cr (
r
 = 0.86), in bore hole samples between Fe and Cr (
r
 = 0.77), in tube well samples between Fe and Cr (
r
 = 0.69), while all the other parameter correlations were found lower (
r
 = 0.60). Between electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids, high relation has been observed between them (
r
 = 1). Overall, results showed that in most of the studied samples, contents of the target metals were found above the allowable limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).