Assessment Of Heavy Metals And Its Treatment Through Phytoremediation In Groundwater Along River Kabul In District Charsadda,Pakistan

Heavy metals(HMs)are a common problem related to drinking water which is affecting most of the Asian,African and European countries for many decades.Pakistan is one of the affected countries by(HMs)in Asia including other countries like India and China.This study is about(HMs)detection in groundwater and its treatment through phytoremediation along River Kabul in District Charsadda also including other physiochemical parameters like p H,EC,TDS,turbidity,fluoride,phosphates,nitrites and nitrates as well.All these parameters are detected within the permissible limits except turbidity which was higher than the permissible limit of ≤5 NTU in four sampled areas with highest level being 9.99 NTU.Chemical parameters also reported within standard limits except arsenic(As)and cadmium(Cd)which have high concentration in samples collected from S2(15.20 μg/L)and S1(20.50 μg/L)according to WHO’s standard of 10 and 5μg/L,respectively,however the limit is within range of EPA-Pakistan standard of50 and 100 μg/L for each in drinking water but this limit was set in the past by WHO which Pakistan is still following.(HMs)are capable of causing many health problems even at low concentration.Hence the population of both areas is exposed to heavy metals pollution via groundwater that can cause different diseases as almost all of the study area’s population is dependent on groundwater for drinking and other purposes.Therefore,the treatment of these(HMs)through phytoremediation is more important to reduce these(HMs)up to permissible limits of WHO to protect the human health and environment.