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The study investigated the water quality of groundwater for consumption of human beings and irrigation of taluka Qamber district Qamber-Shahdadkot, Sindh, Pakistan. A total of 21 representative groundwater samples were collected mostly used for human consumption. According to the research work, 81% samples were not suitable for drinking purpose with TDS above the maximum permissible limit of WHO (1000 mg/L). The pH, total phosphate-P, orth ophosphate-P, nitrate-N, nitrite-N, and arsenic were within WHO limits. The concentrations of essential metals more than half samples were higher than WHO guideline. The concentrations of trace metals like Mn, Fe, Co, and Cu of all samples were within WHO limits, but the values of Cr and Ni 52.38%, Cd 57.14%, and Pb 28.57% were above the WHO limits. The concentrations of fluoride in 81% were higher than permissible limits of WHO. The high consumption of water with concentration of salts and fluoride above the permissible limits may be a leading factor of a number of diseases in the area. The water quality determined for irrigation based on Kelly index (KI), sodium percentage (Na%), chloride–sulfate ratio, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), permeability index (PI), chloro alkaline indices1 (CAI-1), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), and chloride bicarbonate ratio indicated that 25–90% samples were suitable for irrigation purposes.

Water is an essential component for the survival of humans and animals. Due to industrialization, water is being contaminated with varying polluting agents, arsenic (As) contamination is one of them. An exclusive study was carried out for the determination of As in groundwater of Larkana city using microwave-assisted digestion followed by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). For that purpose, a total of 110 groundwater samples were collected from 10 union councils (UCs) of the city based on global position system (GPS) method. Results revealed that maximum concentration of As was found 17.0 μg/L in UC-6, while in UC-1, UC-2 and UC-10 the concentration of As was found within the permissible limits of WHO. The minimum and maximum mean concentration of As was found 3.59 μg/L and 6.78 μg/L, respectively. Out of 110 ground water samples of Larkana city, 13 samples were found above the permissible limits (~12% of total samples). Hence, water can be used for drinking purpose with caution.