Assessment of the Quality of Drinking Water Sources and Human Health in a Rural Area of Solan, North India

A study to assess the quality of drinking water sources and health conditions of the natives in a rural location of Solan District (30° 54′ 16.76′′ N, 77° 05′ 48.18′′ E) was conducted during February–May in 2018. Water samples were collected from four different sites covering two different and only sources of water supply, i.e., Bawdi (natural well) and Handpump in the village. These collected samples were tested for the quality parameters such as color, temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, total hardness, calcium hardness (Ca-H), magnesium hardness (Mg-H), ions such as Cl−, CO32−, HCO3−, Na+, K+ and selected metals (Fe, Pb and Cr). The Indian Standard methods were followed for the collection and analysis of water samples. A health survey was also conducted to check the current health conditions of the natives and correlate with the water chemistry. The results of health survey and chemical analysis of water samples collected from Bawdi and Handpump have been discussed in this paper and compared with the permissible limits of WHO and BIS.