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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Water and Wastewater Management
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1430104
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancement in Hydrological Modeling and Water Resources Management for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) View all 7 articles

Evaluating the intrinsic vulnerability of groundwater resources to anthropogenic activities in Islamabad, Pakistan: A GIS-based DRASTIC approach

Provisionally accepted
Fayazullah Shinwari Fayazullah Shinwari 1Mumtaz A. Khan Mumtaz A. Khan 1*Syed Siyar Syed Siyar 2Urooj Liaquat Urooj Liaquat 1
  • 1 Bahria University, Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • 2 University of Malakand, Chakdara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The UN goal on clean water aims to address the availability of clean water on a worldwide scale. Groundwater contamination was brought on by the widespread application of fertilizers and the use of wrong dumping sites in Islamabad. The DRASTIC model, based on geographic information systems (GIS), was utilized in Islamabad to assess the groundwater's susceptibility. The vulnerability index of DRASTIC model ranged from 275 to 900. Values near to 900 indicates more vulnerable zone while the values around 275 showed susceptibility towards contamination. The area was classified into 5 zones in equal intervals. Among the zones, one with a very low vulnerability spanning 22 km2 or 2% of the entire research region and with a DRASTIC index between 275 and 400. The area covered by low vulnerability zone index, which varied from 400 to 525, was 306 km2, or 28% of the total area. The moderate vulnerability zone index (525–650) covered the greatest area, 500 km2, or 47% of the entire area. The high vulnerability index (650 - 775) covered 221 in km2 and 21 in percentage area and the very high vulnerability zone index (775 - 900) covered 26 km2 area indicating 2% of the study area. To verify the DRASTIC indices, a spatial distribution map of nitrate concentration was created. The results of the regression analysis indicate a weak relationship between groundwater vulnerability and the nitrates distribution in the area. It suggests that nitrate is not the contamination's vulnerability source in Islamabad; rather, the nitrate content was comparatively greater in the zone with a very high DRASTIC results. Islamabad nitrate concentration ranged from 0 to 2.5 ppm. The index map will function as a foundational study for the establishment of safe zones for groundwater extraction and the control of the current environmental standards' deterioration in this region. The first task towards which should be handled in very high vulnerability areas should be the treatment of the stream from contaminations which are accumulating into the Rawal lake and the use of proper chemical which are not harmful for ground water in NARC (National Agriculture and Research Center).

    Keywords: Groundwater contamination, Nitrate concentration, Groundwater vulnerability evaluation, geographic information system, GIS)-based DRASTIC

    Received: 09 May 2024; Accepted: 25 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shinwari, Khan, Siyar and Liaquat. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mumtaz A. Khan, Bahria University, Islamabad, 44000, Islamabad, Pakistan

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