Shimla, a part of” Devbhumi Himachal” with fascinating geographical location, natural beauty, cultural heritage, and hospitality which attracts travellers all over world. Being located on the hills it has limited water supply. Natural water exists in three forms namely; ground water, rain water and surface water, of which surface water is the most accessible. [1] Talking about the natural sources Shimla comprises mostly Bowris and Handpumps. 

Worldwide, 144 million people depend on surface water for their survival which is a natural habitat for many living organisms [2], some of which are responsible for transmission of infectious diseases such as hepatitis A and E cholera, typhoid, dysentery etc[3]. These water sources are prone fr contamination by human,animal activities and weather (storms or heavy rain). Hepaitis A and E outbreaks affect predominantly communities using the surface water. 

Water quality is defined in terms of three key quality parameters namely, physical, chemical and microbiological characteristics [4]. Some of the physicochemical and biological parameters include pH, turbidity,hardness,minerals and microorganisms. 

However, there is paucity of studies on the quality of water from natural resources in the Shimla city. The information gathered from such studies is useful in specific study area and is inadequate to know the present status of quality of water from natural resources which are being used by some people to avoid the further hepatitis outbreaks. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine Quality of water from bowris and handpumps in Shimla City. This study in addition has the potential to guide Shimla city to attain the SDG 6 target of universal access to safe drinking water [6] by 2030.

Objectives of the study

To assess the Quality of Natural Water Resources in terms of physiochemical and biological parameters.

Study Design

Cross sectional survey 

Study Area 

Natural resources of water (Bowris and Handpumps) under Municipal corporation area of Shimla City,Himachal Pradesh 

Study Period

6 months July 2020 through October 2020)

Data collection

Before doing the data collection, the survey team consisting of medical social workers and residents of department of community medicine was given training regarding the testing of w|ater with potables kits and procedures. 

After that water was tested with potable kits and the results were noted.

The data was collected to obtain information on following parameters:

Physical, chemical and biological testing of water

We had taken samples from 42 bowris and 15  handpumps in shimla city. (Table 1)

Table 1: Distribution ofthe natural water resources in Shimla city

Among all the natural water sources 87.7% were found to have positive bacteriological test. (Table 2)

Table 2: Bacteriological testing  of the natural water resources in Shimla city

Among all bowris 92.9% had positive bacteriological test while 73.3% of all handpumps were found to had positive bacteriological test. (Table 3)

Table 3: Bacteriological testing  of the natural water resources according to type  in Shimla city

Almost all the biochemical tests (PH ,turbidity, total hardness, total chloride, total residual chlorine, total iron, total nitrates & total fluorides)  of water were found to be approximately near to normal level in these bowris and handpumps. (Table 4)

Table 4: Distribution of the water resources according to biochemical testing of drinking water

Almost all the biochemical tests (PH ,turbidity, total hardness, total chloride, total residual chlorine, total iron, total nitrates & total fluorides)  of water were found to be  approximately near to normal level in these bowris and handpumps.

This study showed that water from bowris and handpumps in hepatitis affected communities of Shimla city were not safe for human use in natural form. The physiochemical properties of water samples were approximately near to the recommended level. But 73.3% of bowris and 26.3% of handpumps had bacteriological test positive, which is a big concern for all of us, as it may lead to future outbreaks of hepatitis and other waterborne diseases. Our study have similar results in terms of ph and turbidity with Bwire et al BMC Public Health(2020),they found ph  = 7.39 and turbidity  = 5.02 NTU in communities of Uganda. Md et al(IJSAB 2020) also approximated ph  = 7.8,chloride = 3.05ppm, and nitrates = 14.3mg/l level to be somewhat similar from our present study. Level of iron from natural sources came to be 80ppb for bowri and 160ppb for handpumps which is normal   limits in  contrast to study done in Moradabad of U.P. by Vinay Kumar found highest iron level to be 6294ppb and lowest level be 339ppb in two different study areas which are higher than the recommended level of <300 ppb.

So, our major concern is in  biological improvement of natural water resources which could be done by some of the measures like promotion of use of safe water (using water disinfection), health education, sanitation improvement and hygiene promotion that address both the water bacteriological contents and physiochemical parameters in the short and long terms.. Therefore, further studies will be required to better understand the biological contamination reasons and further steps need to be taken in future.

Limitations

The study had few limitations. The quantiative measurement may have lead to observer bias and at the same time kits used for assessment of water resources may also have some limitations .Secondly the study was cross sectional so physiochemical variations in different weathers may differ .

1. BMC Public Health. “Drinking Water Quality Status and Contamination in Pakistan.” November 2020, https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-09186-3.

2. WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme. Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2000–2017. Special Focus on Inequalities. 2017, https://washdata.org.

3. World Health Organization. Protecting Surface Water for Health. 2016, http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/246196/1/9789241510554-eng.pdf?ua = 1.

4. Daud, M.K., et al.“Drinking Water Quality Status and Contamination in Pakistan.” BioMed Research International, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7908183.

5. Otieno, O.S. Physico-Chemical and Bacteriological Quality of Water from Five Rural Catchment Areas of Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya. 2015, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004.

6. United Nations Development Programme. Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. 2015, https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-6-clean-water-and-sanitation.html.

7. Collin, C. Biosand Filtration of High Turbidity Water: Modified Filter Design and Safe Filtrate Storage. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009, http://web.mit.edu/watsan/Docs/Student%20Theses/Ghana/2009/Thesis%20-%20Final,%20Clair%20Collin,%205-15-09.pdf.