Qualitative Assessment of Domestic Water Supply in the Major Districts of Karachi City for a Sustainable Urban Water Quality Management

Haris Uddin Qureshi; Ibrahim Abbas; Syed Muzzamil Hussain Shah; Muhammad Asim Kandhro; Fang Yenn Teo

doi:10.14710/jsp.2025.23837

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/jsp.2025.23837

Qualitative Assessment of Domestic Water Supply in the Major Districts of Karachi City for a Sustainable Urban Water Quality Management

*Haris Uddin Qureshi - Associated Consulting Engineers (ACE) Limited Karachi, Pakistan | Associated Consulting Engineers (ACE) Limited Karachi |, Pakistan

Ibrahim Abbas - Department of Civil Engineering, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan | Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology |, Pakistan

Syed Muzzamil Hussain Shah

- Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, 31261 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia | King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals |, Saudi Arabia

Muhammad Asim Kandhro - US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W), Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan | US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W) |, Pakistan

Fang Yenn Teo

- Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia | University of Nottingham Malaysia |, Malaysia

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

BibTex Citation Data :

@article{JSP23837,
    author = {Haris Qureshi and Ibrahim Abbas and Syed Shah and Muhammad Kandhro and Fang Teo},
    title = {Qualitative Assessment of Domestic Water Supply in the Major Districts of Karachi City for a Sustainable Urban Water Quality Management},
    journal = {Journal of Sustainability Perspectives},
  volume = {5},
    number = {1},
    year = {2025},
    keywords = {},
    abstract = {The rising population, changing climate patterns and land use changes have emerged to be a serious consequence for the freshwater resources across the globe. Apart from water quantity, the water quality also holds a significant importance for the human health and the overall ecosystem. Due to the high population growth, massive migrations, and greater anthropogenic activities, the urban centers of the developing and underdeveloped countries are highly susceptible to water quality deterioration and waterborne diseases. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the water quality of domestic water supply in the three (03) major and highly populated districts of Karachi city of Pakistan including District Central, South, and East, receiving water from Keenjhar Lake via COD treatment plant. The physical test results showed higher turbidity levels (6.33 NTU) in Dhoraji (District East), 5.9 NTU in Boat Basin (District South), and 7.58 NTU in COD influent. Chemically, all samples showed satisfactory results as per the WHO guidelines. However, the biological water quality analysis showed significant presence of bacterial content (E-Coli and Total Coliform) in all collected samples. Conclusively, the treatment efficiency of COD treatment plant was found to be satisfactory and the contamination was mainly found due to the sewage and fecal mixing, presence of mud and silt in conduits, and leakage of sewage from the waste water pipes into the domestic water supply. The presence of harmful biological contaminants found in water is alarming, as it may consequentially lead to Diarrhea, vomiting, Typhoid, Cholera, and Jaundice. Thus, the research outcomes clearly unearthed the existing water quality of the mega city and would significantly serve to formulate well-integrated and holistic source water protection practices and to take effective measures for sustainable water quality management.},
   issn = {2797-7137},   pages = {138--160}  doi = {10.14710/jsp.2025.23837},
    url = {https://ejournal2.undip.ac.id/index.php/jsp/article/view/23837}
}

Citation Format:

Abstract

The rising population, changing climate patterns and land use changes have emerged to be a serious consequence for the freshwater resources across the globe. Apart from water quantity, the water quality also holds a significant importance for the human health and the overall ecosystem. Due to the high population growth, massive migrations, and greater anthropogenic activities, the urban centers of the developing and underdeveloped countries are highly susceptible to water quality deterioration and waterborne diseases. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the water quality of domestic water supply in the three (03) major and highly populated districts of Karachi city of Pakistan including District Central, South, and East, receiving water from Keenjhar Lake via COD treatment plant. The physical test results showed higher turbidity levels (6.33 NTU) in Dhoraji (District East), 5.9 NTU in Boat Basin (District South), and 7.58 NTU in COD influent. Chemically, all samples showed satisfactory results as per the WHO guidelines. However, the biological water quality analysis showed significant presence of bacterial content (E-Coli and Total Coliform) in all collected samples. Conclusively, the treatment efficiency of COD treatment plant was found to be satisfactory and the contamination was mainly found due to the sewage and fecal mixing, presence of mud and silt in conduits, and leakage of sewage from the waste water pipes into the domestic water supply. The presence of harmful biological contaminants found in water is alarming, as it may consequentially lead to Diarrhea, vomiting, Typhoid, Cholera, and Jaundice. Thus, the research outcomes clearly unearthed the existing water quality of the mega city and would significantly serve to formulate well-integrated and holistic source water protection practices and to take effective measures for sustainable water quality management.

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Funding: Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR)

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Section: Original Articles

Language : EN

In Vol 5, No 1: June 2025

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