~ 572 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2021; 9(1): 572-580 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 www.chemijournal.com IJCS 2021; 9(1): 572-580 © 2021 IJCS Received: 03-11-2020 Accepted: 10-12-2020 Kartikey Sahil Department of Environmental Science, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India SK Bhardwaj Department of Environmental Science, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India Corresponding Author: Kartikey Sahil Department of Environmental Science, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India Assessment of heavy metals concentrations from surface water sources in urban areas of Himachal Pradesh, India Kartikey Sahil and SK Bhardwaj DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2021.v9.i1h.11289 Abstract Surface water forms the major source of drinking water and supportive in maintaining the ground water levels in urban areas of most of the developing nation of the world. The surface water sources are mainly used for drinking and domestic purposes by urban population of India. In the last few decades, due to rapid increase in population and urbanization, we have been witnessing alarming surface water pollution all over the world. The present study was conducted with an objective to assess the concentrations of heavy metals on surface water sources in urban areas of Himachal Pradesh, India. In the study area 12 surface water samples have been collected and analyzed for the heavy metals such as nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), mercury (Hg) and copper (Cu). The study revealed that heavy metals concentrations of surface waters sources were within the prescribed standard limits for drinking purposes (IS 10500: 2012) and WHO. Further, the investigation showed that the water quality of the selected urban areas possibly impacted due to increase of anthropogenic activities and improper or illegal release of sewage water and agricultural effluents. Keywords: Urban areas, surface water quality, heavy metals, urbanization Introduction Water pollution is not a new problem except in dimensions which we face today. Man has been using water around him for dumping wastes. In the early stages of human history, domestic discharges probably posed no problem as nature has the capacity to degrade waste and restore normal conditions. Nature still does, but with the advent of urbanization and industrialization we have been overloading the systems beyond their tolerance limit. Consequently, our water bodies such as rivers, streams and lakes are increasingly getting polluted, threatening the safety, welfare and the very existence of mankind. In recent years the newer environmental issues regarding hazardous waste, global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, groundwater contamination, disaster mitigation and removal of pollutant have become the focus of environmental attention. Because of the anthropogenic activities, fresh water resources are deteriorating day-by- day at a very fast rate (Ramadhan, 2007) [29] . Anthropogenic influences like urbanization, industrialization, agricultural activities as well as natural sources like precipitation rate, weathering processes and soil erosion degrade the surface water (Ramadhan, 2007; Najafpour et al., 2008; Bu et al., 2010; Shimba and Jonah, 2016) [29, 20, 8, 33] . Thus, the water quality of these water resources is a subject of ongoing concern and has resulted in an increasing demand for monitoring surface water sources. Most cities in India are facing severe water scarcity. Changes such as rapid urbanization, economic growth, increasing populations, and evolving consumption patterns are individually and collectively stressing water supplies. Securing urban water supply is crucial, since the number of urban dwellers living with seasonable water shortages is expected to grow from close to 500 million people in 2000 to 1.9 billion in 2050 (McDonald et al. 2011) [19] . It is expected that about 70 percent of urban water requirement will be met by surface water sources and remaining from groundwater (Kumar et al., 2005) [17] . Almost 200 million people in India do not have access to safe and clean drinking water and 90 percent of the country’s water resources are polluted. In India, only 29 percent of the wastewater generated is being treated in urban centers having a population of more than 50,000 and 71 percent as untreated wastewater is being discharged to our rivers, streams, and