Research Paper
Microbial contamination levels in the drinking water and
associated health risks in Karachi, Pakistan
Rafat Amin, Midhat Batool Zaidi, Saima Bashir, Rafiq Khanani,
Rukhsana Nawaz, Shaukat Ali and Sadaf Khan
ABSTRACT
The current study aimed to assess the microbial quality of municipal (tap) and ground (borehole)
water in Karachi, Pakistan. A health survey was also conducted to assess possible health risks of the
drinking water. Fifty water samples (n ¼ 25 each of tap and ground water) were collected from
various locations of five administrative districts of Karachi for bacteriological analysis. In addition, a
survey was conducted to assess the impact of drinking water on the health of city residents.
Microbiological analysis results showed the presence of total coliform in 48 out of 50 (96%) tested
samples. The total viable plate count at 37
C was >200 CFU/ml in the majority of the collected
samples which exceeded the permissible limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency. To evaluate the health risk of contaminated water, a total
of 744 residents were interviewed. The information acquired from this field work revealed a high
prevalence of waterborne diseases in the order of diarrhea and vomiting > skin problems >
malaria > prolonged fever > eye problems and jaundice. To solve water and environmental
problems, awareness and regular monitoring programs of water management and safe disposal of
waste have been suggested.
Rafat Amin
†
Shaukat Ali
Department of Pathology, Dow International
Medical Collage,
Dow Research Institute of Biotechnology and
Biomedical Sciences, Dow University of Health
Sciences,
Ojha Campus, Karachi,
Pakistan
Midhat Batool Zaidi
†
Dr Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and
Drug Research, International Center of Chemical
and Biological Sciences,
University of Karachi,
Karachi,
Pakistan
Saima Bashir
Institute of Biological, Biochemical and
Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Dow University of Health Sciences,
Ojha Campus, Karachi,
Pakistan
Rafiq Khanani
Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry, Darul
Sehat Hospital,
Karachi,
Pakistan
Rukhsana Nawaz
Behavioral Neuroscience Lab, College of
Humanities and Social Sciences,
United Arab Emirates University,
Al Ain,
United Arab Emirates
Sadaf Khan (corresponding author)
Department of Biochemistry, Dow International
Medical College,
Dow Research Institute of Biotechnology and
Biomedical Sciences, Dow University of Health
Sciences,
Ojha Campus, Karachi,
Pakistan
E-mail: sudafkhan@gmail.com;
sadaf.khan@duhs.edu.pk
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Key words | ground water, microbial quality, municipal supplied water, public health, waterborne
diseases
319 Research Paper © IWA Publishing 2019 Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development | 09.2 | 2019
doi: 10.2166/washdev.2019.147
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