Geospatial Mapping of Drinking Water Contamination and Health Implications in a Semi-Arid Tehsil of Pakistan

Abstract

The right to safe drinking water remains a key challenge in developing countries, despite international agreements on Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). This research evaluated the quality of groundwater and the associated health impacts in Ahmedpur East, a semi-arid tehsil in the Bahawalpur District, Pakistan, using laboratory analyses, geospatial maps, and hospital health data. The 12 groundwater samples were tested in accordance with the APHA (2017) standards for pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), calcium (Ca 2+), magnesium (Mg 2+), potassium (K 2+), and turbidity. Findings revealed that TDS exceeded 1,500 mg/L and EC exceeded 2,000 µS/cm at several locations, indicating high turbidity (>10 NTU) and microbial contamination in low-income areas. In contrast, high hardness was associated with a higher incidence of kidney stones. The conceptual framework combines the water health nexus model and the environmental determinism theory, in which the influence of physicochemical water degradation determines the direct effect on disease spatial patterns. The results are consistent with the theoretical premises of environmental exposure as a cause of disease prevalence in population health. GIS overlays revealed a high degree of spatial convergence between contamination hotspots and disease clusters, indicating that groundwater quality deterioration is a key determinant of local health outcomes. This paper highlights the importance of community-based water treatment, round-the-clock surveillance, and geospatial surveillance as indicators of achieving water security.