Principal Component Analysis (PCA)–Geographic Information System (GIS) Modeling for Groundwater and Associated Health Risks in Abbottabad, Pakistan

Tahir Ali Akbar (), Azka Javed, Siddique Ullah (), Waheed Ullah, Arshid Pervez, Raza Ali Akbar, Muhammad Faisal Javed, Abdullah Mohamed and Abdeliazim Mustafa Mohamed
Additional contact information
Tahir Ali Akbar: Department of Civil Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Azka Javed: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Siddique Ullah: Department of Civil Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Waheed Ullah: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Arshid Pervez: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Raza Ali Akbar: Department of Medicine, Hamad General Hospital, Doha P.O. Box 3050, Qatar
Muhammad Faisal Javed: Department of Civil Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Abdullah Mohamed: Research Centre, Future University, New Cairo 11745, Egypt
Abdeliazim Mustafa Mohamed: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj 11942, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-22

Abstract: Drinking water quality is a major problem in Pakistan, especially in the Abbottabad region of Pakistan. The main objective of this study was to use a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and integrated Geographic Information System (GIS)-based statistical model to estimate the spatial distribution of exceedance levels of groundwater quality parameters and related health risks for two union councils (Mirpur and Jhangi) located in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A field survey was conducted, and samples were collected from 41 sites to analyze the groundwater quality parameters. The data collection includes the data for 15 water quality parameters. The Global Positioning System (GPS) Essentials application was used to obtain the geographical coordinates of sampling locations in the study area. The GPS Essentials is an android-based GPS application commonly used for collection of geographic coordinates. After sampling, the laboratory analyses were performed to evaluate groundwater quality parameters. PCA was applied to the results, and the exceedance values were calculated by subtracting them from the World Health Organization (WHO) standard parameter values. The nine groundwater quality parameters such as Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd), Iron (Fe), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), and Colony Forming Unit (CFU) exceeded the WHO threshold. The highly exceeded parameters, i.e., As, Pb, Hg, Cd, and CFU, were selected for GIS-based modeling. The Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) technique was used to model the exceedance values. The PCA produced five Principal Components (PCs) with a cumulative variance of 76%. PC-1 might be the indicator of health risks related to CFU, Hg, and Cd. PC-2 could be the sign of natural pollution. PC-3 might be the indicator of health risks due to As. PC-4 and PC-5 might be indicators of natural processes. GIS modeling revealed that As, Pb, Cd, CFU, and Hg exceeded levels 3, 4, and 5 in both union councils. Therefore, there could be greater risk for exposure to diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, and guinea worm infection. The combination of laboratory analysis with GIS and statistical techniques provided new dimensions of modeling research for analyzing groundwater and health risks.

Keywords: GIS; PCA; groundwater quality; health risk; solid waste (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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