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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Groundwater Quality Assessment for Drinking
Purpose in Faisalabad City Using GIS
and Water Quality Index
1
Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, University of Agriculture,
Faisalabad-38000-Pakistan
2
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38000-Pakistan
Submission date: 2025-09-30
Final revision date: 2025-11-13
Acceptance date: 2025-12-17
Online publication date: 2026-04-10
Corresponding author
Muhammad Farhan Akram
Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad--Pakistan, Sidhu Pura Rd, 38000, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad--Pakistan, Sidhu Pura Rd, 38000, Faisalabad, Pakistan
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Water is an essential natural resource, fundamental to human survival, food production, energy
generation, industrial development, environmental protection, and sustainable growth for future
generations. Ensuring safe drinking water requires continuous monitoring of groundwater quality,
particularly in densely populated and water-stressed urban centers. This study addresses the research
gap in multi-year groundwater quality assessment by integrating GIS-based spatial analysis with
the Weighted Arithmetic Water Quality Index (WQI) method for the first time to assess the
potability of groundwater in Faisalabad, the third largest city in Pakistan, and a major industrial hub.
A total of 1,188 groundwater samples were analyzed between 2015-2020 for physicochemical parameters,
and groundwater suitability was assessed using the Weighted Arithmetic Water Quality Index (WQI).
Spatial variation was mapped with the Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) technique in ArcGIS
10.8. Results showed that pH ranged from 6.8-8.2, chlorides 20-1885 mg/L, total dissolved solids
(TDS) 138-3926 mg/L, sulfate 10-893 mg/L, sodium 10-1411 mg/L, bicarbonates 68-1400 mg/L, total
hardness (as CaCO₃) 80-1250 mg/L, and electrical conductivity (EC) 278-7852 μS/cm. The calculated
Water Quality Index (WQI) averaged 84%, indicating overall poor quality. Groundwater quality was
highest in the Gatwala area due to recharge from the Rakh Branch Canal, whereas the poorest quality
was observed along Maqbool and Satyana Roads, largely influenced by textile dyeing industries.
The findings highlight that Faisalabad’s groundwater requires pretreatment before domestic or
agricultural use. Sustainable groundwater management can be achieved through continuous monitoring,
improved waste disposal practices, and the adoption of advanced treatment technologies.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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