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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Water
Sec. Water Resource Management
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frwa.2025.1540703
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancement in Hydrological Modeling and Water Resources Management for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) View all 15 articles

Assessment of groundwater intrinsic vulnerability using GIS-based DRASTIC method in District Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Provisionally accepted
Muhammad Muneer Muhammad Muneer 1Mumtaz Ali Khan Mumtaz Ali Khan 1*Fayaz Ullah Shinwari Fayaz Ullah Shinwari 1Ijaz Ahmed Ijaz Ahmed 2Syed Siyar Syed Siyar 3Fahad Alshehri Fahad Alshehri 4Muhammad Shahab Muhammad Shahab 5*
  • 1 Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • 2 Université du Québec en Abitibi Témiscamingue, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada
  • 3 University of Malakand, Chakdara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • 4 King Saud University, Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 5 Abdullah Alrushaid Earth Science Remote Sensing Research Chair, Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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

    The Study area lies in the southern Kohat deformed fold and thrust belt. This part of the Kohat plateau, borders the southern extension of the Himalayan deformation, with the Salt range to the south most. The research is based on DRASTIC model. Anthropogenic activities have the potential to pollute groundwater. An essential component of managing groundwater is vulnerability mapping. This study used the DRASTIC model to analyze aquifer vulnerability and identify the hydrogeological condition in the southern portion of the Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. For the models, the information layers were provided via geographic information systems (GIS). The DRASTIC model uses seven environmental parameters. Vulnerability index concentrations were found to be 0.78% for Very Low vulnerability, 9.57% for Low vulnerability, 24.96% for Moderate vulnerability, 54.01% for High vulnerability, and 10.68% for Very High vulnerability, according to the results. 164.446 km 2 of the total 1540 km2 area is covered by the Very High vulnerable zone. The highest Nitrate concentration recorded in the area is 11 ppm and lowest is 4.4 ppm. Around 45% of the samples surpassed the approved limit of PSQWA (Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority) and NSQWQ (National Standards for Quality of Water) standard. The concentration of Nitrate >10 ppm represent that some human action has contributed toward the highest concentration.

    Keywords: Groundwater pollution, contamination, Groundwater vulnerability assessment, DRASTIC model, Geographic information system (GIS)

    Received: 06 Dec 2024; Accepted: 27 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Muneer, Khan, Shinwari, Ahmed, Siyar, Alshehri and Shahab. 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 Ali Khan, Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan
    Muhammad Shahab, Abdullah Alrushaid Earth Science Remote Sensing Research Chair, Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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