Water quality of the urban areas of Peshawar was monitored for various physical and chemical parameters. The importance of this reference data, related to the water quality of Peshawar was felt after spreading of some water borne diseases, mainly diarrhea in one of the areas of Peshawar (Sufaid Dheri) during the summer 1999 in which a few people had died and several were hospitalized. Forty three water samples from different tube wells of the urban areas of Peshawar were anaIysed for pH, TDS, TSS, electrical conductivity, turbidity, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, alkalinity, chloride, nitrate, sodium and potassium. The concentrations of these analyses were found in the ranges; pH (6.0-7.9), IDS (180.20-3S1.82 mWl), TSS (1.0S-4.21 mWl), Electrical conductivity (200-390 mWl), turbidity (0.3-2.1 N11J), total hardness (126.17-4S8.91 mWl) calcium (21.81-90.90 mWl), magnesium (12.S0-80.72 mWl),bicarbonates (132-244 mWl), chloride (10.04-S4.4S mwl), sulphate (16.43-80.28 mWl), nitrate (1.8-3S.2 mWl\), sodium (7.974.6 mWl), and potassium (1.6-6.2 mWl), Mean concentration values of the different anaIyses of Peshawar water were also found. Average vales of, pH (7.06±0.45), IDS (284.S7±51.l6 mWl), TSS (2.27±l.03 mWl), Electrical conductivity (315.58±S7.28 mWl), turbidity (0.73±O.42 NTIJ, total hardness (306.23±70.64 mWl), calcium (61.61±12.23 mWl),magnesium (36.03±13.47 mWl), bicarbonates (187.84±2S.87 mWl), chloride (31.41±10.SS mWl), sulphate (49.43±16.15 mWl), nitrate (19.21± 10.58mWl), sodium (28.92±9.95 mWl), and potassium (3.6S±1.l7mWl), Alkalinity (due to hydroxide and carbonate) and nitrites were found absent. All the anaIyses were found to be within the WHO permissible limits. This paper concludes that, waters of all the tube wells of Peshawar (under study) are safe for human consumption provided the supply lines and the storage tanks are prevented from being contaminated. A lowering trend in the pH of underground waters of Peshawar was seen, the reason to this was not found. The results presented in this paper also contradict the previous statement about the nitrate concentration in the tube well waters of Peshawar to have been decreasing.
AZIZ UR REHMAN ,A R KHAN ,