Citation: Ahsan, M., Hifza, R., M. Ashraf., and Kiran, A., (2020). Assessment of Water Quality Status in Gilgit Baltistan. Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), pp. © All rights reserved by PCRWR. The authors encourage fair use of this material for non-commercial purposes with proper citation. ISBN: ____________________ Disclaimer: The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the institution. i Assessment of Water Quality Status in Gilgit Baltistan Mufeezah Ahsan Hifza Rasheed Muhammad Ashraf Kiran Anwaar PAKISTAN COUNCIL OF RESEARCH IN WATER RESOURCES November, 2020 ii iii Acknowledgements The authors would like to express their deepest appreciation to all those who provided them the possibility to complete this report. The authors are highly indebted to all members of National Water Quality Laboratory, PCRWR Islamabad for their scientific contributions. Authors are also grateful to Ms Saiqa Imran, Ms Kiran Anwaar, Ms Rahila Noureen, Ms Rizwana Perveen, and Ms Irum Gul for testing of all water samples. Many thanks and appreciations go to Mr Shafiq-ur-Rehman and Mr Muhammad Asghar for analytical data quality control and Mr Tanveer Ahmed ICP technician for trace metal analysis. The authors are also thankful to Mr Sohail Anjum, Mr Zeeshan Munawar and Mr Gulam Haider for data entry and composing the report. Sincere and warm gratitude is due to Mr Gulam Haider and Mr Mushtaq for water sampling and transportation of samples from unreachable hilly terrains. The financial support to complete this work with sponsorship of the Asia Foundation, a nonprofit international development organization is highly acknowledged. iv v Summary Gilgit Baltistan is house of world’s second highest mountain peak surrounded with more than more than 7000 glaciers. The snow and glacial resource of the Himalayan region are a major source of fresh water for Indus basin irrigation system. The sustenance of millions of people depends on the Indus basin irrigation system and is known as the water tank of Pakistan. Considering the reported prevalence of waterborne diseases as well as SDG 6.1 requirements, a water quality assessment of Gilgit Baltistan (GB) region was undertaken by the PCRWR in collaboration with the Asia foundation. In this context - 94 samples were collected from snowmelt runoff, springs, groundwater and rivers of six districts (Gilgit, Skardu, Astor, Hunza, Gizer and Diamir) of GB at the rate of 10- 15 villages per district. The microbiology testing capability of PCRWR’s water quality laboratory Gilgit was enhanced by provision of required supplies and training and afterwards all the collected samples were tested for microbiological quality in the Gilgit laboratory. The samples for chemical testing were transported to the PCRWR’s ISO-17025 accredited National Water Quality Laboratory, Islamabad. The test data of physico-chemical, heavy metals and microbial parameters were compared with the permissible limits of National Drinking Water Quality Standards. Overall, 22% sources were found supplying safe water and remaining 78% were unsafe mainly due to the prevalence of microbial contamination (68%), turbidity (19%), Iron (24%), Fluoride (2%) and Aluminum (7%). The higher unsafe water sources due to microbiological and/or chemical contamination were found in districts Astor (100%) followed by district Skardu (80%), Hunza (80%), Gizer (74%), Gilgit (70%) and district Diamer (67%). The source wise comparison showed that rivers to be highly contaminated (100%) than snowmelt runoff in surface water channels (82%), fresh spring water (80%), and ground water (29%). The residents in the villages of GB are either living near springs, lakes and rivers or they are managing to obtain water from some nearby storage tanks. These sources are either community developed or developed by some local NGO’s and require the facility of basic water treatment such as filtration and disinfection to reduce the risk of vi waterborne diseases. The mineral mining of mafic and igneous minerals, gemstone deposits may also be adding chemical contaminants such as iron, aluminium etc. and requires source tracking study. Moreover, the activities under CPEC programme, disposal of untreated wastewater, agricultural practices may also be adding these potential contaminants in surface water bodies. The water quality improvement requires arrangements for water filtration, disinfection, wastewater disposal and recycling, capacity building of local agencies for water quality monitoring, awareness rising of villagers towards safe storage practices and environmental health protection. The study findings also suggest a well-designed investigation on impacts of mining in GB region on rich water resources of this region to rule out the heavy metals contamination and to develop mitigation strategies. vii Table of Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 2. Study Area .......................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Domestic water supply system of Gilgit Baltistan .................................................... 6 3. Water Quality Assessment ............................................................................... 8 3.1 Sampling design ..................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Sampling Methodology ........................................................................................... 9 4. Results and discussion ................................................................................... 12 4.1 Microbial Contamination........................................................................................ 15 4.2 Total dissolved solids (TDS) ................................................................................. 17 4.3 Turbidity Contamination: ....................................................................................... 18 4.4 Fluoride Contamination: ........................................................................................ 19 4.5 Iron contamination ................................................................................................ 20 4.6 Trace metals Contamination ................................................................................. 20 4.7 Dissolved oxygen (DO) ......................................................................................... 22 5. Conclusions: .................................................................................................... 25 6. Recommendation and way forward ............................................................... 25 6.1 Disinfection of unsafe water for microbial contamination ....................................... 25 6.2 Installation of reverse osmosis system for removal of heavy metals ..................... 26 6.3 Integrated natural resources profiling of GB .......................................................... 26 6.4 Proper disposal of wastewater .............................................................................. 26 6.5 Regular monitoring, capacity building and awareness ........................................... 26 References .............................................................................................................. 27 viii List of Figures: Figure 1: Map of Gilgit Baltistan .............................................................................. 4 Figure 2: Rivers in Gilgit Baltistan ........................................................................... 5 Figure 3: Schematic diagram of Gilgit Baltistan water supply system ..................... 6 Figure 4: Piped water distribution in GB area Jutal, Gilgit ...................................... 7 Figure 5: Piped water supply in Chilas city ............................................................. 8 Figure 6: Water supply in Diamer ........................................................................... 8 Figure 7: Young girls filling water from broken water supply line pipes passing near house to avoid travelling .................................................................. 8 Figure 8: Water supply by WSSA ........................................................................... 8 Figure 9: Sampling locations in Gilgit Baltistan ..................................................... 10 Figure 10: Water sample collection from Gilgit ...................................................... 11 Figure 11: Water sample collection from Diamir .................................................... 11 Figure 12: Determination of onsite DO and record keeping ................................... 11 Figure 13: Determination of dissolved oxygen on-site ........................................... 11 Figure 14: District wise representation of in unsafe sample ................................... 14 Figure 15: Potential problem parameters in water sources of GB ......................... 15 Figure 16: District wise % of microbial contamination ............................................ 16 Figure 17: Spatial variation of microbial contamination .......................................... 16 Figure 18: Drinking water contamination with wastewater channel ....................... 17 Figure 19: Water collection tap installed on the corner of water drainage line ....... 17 Figure 20 : Level of total dissolved solids in water sources of GB .......................... 18 Figure 21: Locations with