GIS-Based Physiochemical and Regression Analysis of Drinking Water Quality in Dhaka South City Corporation, Bangladesh

Year 2026, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 321 - 335

Md Mahabub Rahman , Md Tarikul Islam , Md. Roknuzzaman , Sadab Ansary , Md Nadim Hossain

https://doi.org/10.26833/ijeg.1705195

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the physio-chemical drinking water quality in the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), Bangladesh, where the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) is the major source of drinking water. A total of 22 samples were collected from different outlets of the DWASA water supply chain. The significant physicochemical parameters were assessed using standard test methods. The test result shows that the pH value of all sampling water varied from 6.90 to 7.15. Total solids in the sampling water in ten locations exceeded the permissible limits of WHO standards. The TDS value varies from 160 to 470 mg/L, while the TSS value varies from 116 to 328 mg/L. Except in nine locations, EC of DWASA water was within the permissible limit according to the BD standard. Similar results were observed for temperature, calcium, and chloride; all the locations were within the higher limit. However, twenty sampling locations were critical for Mg hardness, which ranges from 22.21 to 36.94 mg/l. The water in DSCC was also critical for COD; all sample locations exceeded the value of permissible limits. Finally, regression analysis revealed that a strong positive correlation was observed between EC and TDS (R = 0.91), TDS and TS (R = 0.79), and EC and TS (R = 0.72). The analysis reveals the fact that the water supplied by DWASA in the DSCC area needs a degree of treatment before consumption. The proposed spatial distribution maps might be very helpful for the policymaker as an indicator for safe and unsafe drinking water outlets in the specified area.

Keywords

Physiochemical Parameters , Regression Analysis , GIS , Drinking Water , Correlation Coefficient

References

• Batmanghelidj, F. (2008). Water for Health, for Healing, for Life: You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty! Hachette UK.
• Parvin, F., Haque, M. M., & Tareq, S. M. (2022). Recent status of water quality in Bangladesh: a systematic review, meta-analysis and health risk assessment. Environmental Challenges, 6, 100416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100416
• Ganguli, S., Rifat, M. A. H., Das, D., Islam, S., & Islam, M. N. (2021). Groundwater pollution in Bangladesh: A review. Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources, 4(4), 115-145. https://doi.org/10.33002/nr2581.6853.040409
• Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). (2022). Statistical year book of Bangladesh, Dhaka.
• Islam, S. N. (2016). Deltaic floodplains development and wetland ecosystems management in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna Rivers Delta in Bangladesh. Sustainable Water Resources Management, 2, 237-256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-016-0047-6
• Rahman, M. A., & Islam, M. N. (2018). Scarcity of safe drinking water in the South-West Coastal Bangladesh. Journal of environmental science and natural resources, 11(1-2), 17-25. https://doi.org/10.3329/jesnr.v11i1-2.43361
• Karim, R., Pk, M. B., Dey, P., Akbar, M. A., & Osman, M. S. (2024). A study about the prediction of population growth and demographic transition in Bangladesh. Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Applied Sciences, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43994-024-00150-0
• Dph. BgS. (2001). Arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh, British Geological Survey (Technical Report, WC/00/19. 4 Volumes).
• Shahriyar, A., Tabassum, N., & Rahman, S. M. (2022). Changes in Quality of Supplied Drinking Water from Sources to Households in Dhaka City. In Advances in Civil Engineering: Select Proceedings of ICACE 2020 (pp. 1-12). Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5547-0_1
• DWASA (2019). Annual Report 2018 -2019: Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority.
• Bashar, M. K., Noro, K., Wang, Q., Tokumura, M., Mori, I., Raknuzzaman, M., ... & Amagai, T. (2023). Spatiotemporal distribution and pollution assessment of trace metals in the Buriganga River, Bangladesh. Journal of Water and Health, 21(6), 815-825. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2023.019
• Pandit, D., Haque, M. M., Bhuyan, M. S., Harun-Al-Rashid, A., Barman, P. P., Roy, R., ... & Kunda, M. (2025). A comprehensive scenario of heavy metals pollution in the rivers of Bangladesh during the last two decades. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 32(16), 10240-10257.
• Nitol, S. A., Kabir, M. M., Sultana, F., Sultana, N., Hossain, M. S., & Saadat, A. H. M. (2016). Quality Analysis of Potable Water at Dakshin Khan in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. J. Biodivers. Environ. Sci., 8(5), 128–135.
• Sabrina, M., Hasan, A. M., Omor F. M., and Subhagata, C. (2013). Analysis of WASA supplied drinking water around Dhaka city from laboratory analysis perspective. Int. J. Chem. Phys. Sci., 2(6), 20–27.
• Bodrud-Doza, M. D., Islam, A. T., Ahmed, F., Das, S., Saha, N., & Rahman, M. S. (2016). Characterization of groundwater quality using water evaluation indices, multivariate statistics and geostatistics in central Bangladesh. Water science, 30(1), 19-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsj.2016.05.001
• Parvez, N., & Pritul, A. S. (2018). Analysis of ground water quality: a case study in the Savar (Akrain) area. Journal of Water Resources and Pollution Studies, 3(3),67-75. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1626349
• Mostafa, M. G., Uddin, S. H., & Haque, A. B. M. H. (2017). Assessment of hydro-geochemistry and groundwater quality of Rajshahi City in Bangladesh. Applied Water Science, 7(8),4663-4671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-017-0629-y
• Hari, D., Navya, V., & Nikhil, V. S. (2022). Assessment of Groundwater Quality Using WQI and GIS in Nacharam and Mallapur Industrial Development Areas, Hyderabad, India. In Sustainability Trends and Challenges in Civil Engineering: Select Proceedings of CTCS 2020 (pp. 1033-1055). Springer Singapore.
• Habib, W., Mahmood, S., Noor, S., Saleem, A., Siraj, M., & Ahmad, H. (2023). A post earthquake damage assessment using GIS in district Mirpur, Pakistan. Advanced GIS, 3(2), 53-58.
• Eminoğlu, Y., & Tarhan, Ç. (2025). Decadal evolution of GIS in disaster management and risk assessment. International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences, 10(2),173-196. https://doi.org/10.26833/ijeg.1544048
• Rahman, Md. M., Sarder M., (2026). GIS-based semi-variogram model selection for the preparation of Modified Mercalli Intensity map of Dinajpur Sadar, Bangladesh. International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences,11(1),136-148. https://doi.org/10.26833/ijeg.1656666
• Onyıl, H. I. (2022). Geospatial intelligence (GeoINT) risk maps producing with geographic information systems (GIS) and creation of the 2D simulation model. Advanced GIS, 2(1), 01-07.
• Gull, A., Liaqut, A., & Mahmood, S. (2023). Landslide Risk Assessment using Geo-spatial Technique: A study of District Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Advanced Geomatics, 3(2), 47–55.
• Civelekler, E. (2023). Using GIS for the allowable soil bearing capacity estimation according to the Terzaghi (1943) equation in Eskişehir city center, Türkiye. International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences, 8(3),310-317. https://doi.org/10.26833/ijeg.1212584
• Civelekler, E., & Pekkan, E. (2022). The application of GIS in visualization of geotechnical data (SPT-Soil Properties): a case study in Eskisehir-Tepebaşı, Turkey. International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences,7(3),302-313.
• Rahman, M. M. (2025). GIS based allowable bearing capacity thematic maps of shallow foundation for Bogura District, Bangladesh. International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences, 10(3), 329-338. https://doi.org/10.26833/ijeg.1589939
• Yakar, M., Yilmaz, H. M., & Yurt, K. (2010). The effect of grid resolution in defining terrain surface. Experimental Techniques, 34(6), 23-29.
• Siraj, M., Mahmood, S., & Habib, W. (2023). Geo-spatial assessment of land cover change in District Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Advanced Remote Sensing, 3(1), 1–9.
• Yakar, M., Yıldız, F., Uray, F., & Metin, A. (2010, June). Photogrammetric Measurement of The Meke Lake and Its Environment with Kite Photographs to Monitoring of Water Level to Climate Change. In ISPRS Commission V Mid-Term Symposium (pp. 613-616).
• Yakar, M., Yilmaz, H. M., & Mutluoglu, O. (2014). Performance of photogrammetric and terrestrial laser scanning methods in volume computing of excavtion and filling areas. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, 39(1), 387-394.
• Kankanamge , H. P. N. K., & Mahmood, S. (2024). Post-Flood Disaster Management Challenges and Issues in the Bulathsinghala Divisional Secretariat Division, Sri Lanka: A Comprehensive Analysis and Strategic Framework for Resilience and Recovery. Advanced Geomatics, 4(1), 09–16.
• Şenol, H. İ., Kaya, Y., Yiğit, A. Y., & Yakar, M. (2024). Extraction and geospatial analysis of the Hersek Lagoon shoreline with Sentinel-2 satellite data. Survey Review, 56(397), 367-382.
• Oğuz, E., Oğuz, K., & Öztürk, K. (2022). Determination of flood susceptibility areas in Düzce region. Geomatik,7(3),220-234. https://doi.org/10.29128/geomatik.972343
• Ircan, M. R., Kale, M. M., & Duman, N. (2024). Flood susceptibility assessment with morphometric analysis: Şanlıurfa example. Geomatik, 9(3), 361-374. https://doi.org/10.29128/geomatik.1506840
• Eyi, G., & Buğdaycı, İ. (2024). Determination of fire severity by remote sensing methods: The example of the Greek Rhodes Island forest fire. Geomatik, 9(3), 348-360. https://doi.org/10.29128/geomatik.1481708
• Ahmed, F., Fakhruddin, A. N. M., Imam, M. T., Khan, N., Abdullah, A. T. M., Khan, T. A., ... & Uddin, M. N. (2017). Assessment of roadside surface water quality of Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh using GIS and multivariate statistical techniques. Applied Water Science, 7, 3511-3525. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-017-0619-0
• Debnath, P., Al Mamun, M. A., Karmakar, S., Uddin, M. S., & Nath, T. K. (2022). Drinking water quality of Chattogram city in Bangladesh: An analytical and residents' perception study. Heliyon, 8(12). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon. 2022.e12247
• Ahmed, A., Nasir, A., Basheer, S., Arslan, C., & Anwar, S. (2019). Ground water quality assessment by using geographical information system and water quality index: A case study of chokera, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Water Conserv. Manag, 3(7), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.26480/wcm.01.2019.07.19
• Meride, Y., & Ayenew, B. (2016). Drinking water quality assessment and its effects on residents’ health in Wondo genet campus, Ethiopia. Environmental Systems Research, 5(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40068-016-0053-6
• Rawat, R., & Siddiqui, A. R. (2019). Assessment of Physiochemical Characteristics of Drinking Water Quality in Allahabad Metropolitan City, India. The Oriental Anthropologist, 19(1), 121-135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972558X19835368
• Aktar, Z., Fakhruddin, A. N. M., Ahmed, M., Nasreen, T., & Parveen, S. (2009). Assessment and treatment of the supplied pipeline water of selected areas of Dhaka City. Bangladesh Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 44(3), 335-340.
• Heydari, M. M., Abbasi, A., Rohani, S. M., & Hosseini, S. M. A. (2013). Correlation study and regression analysis of drinking water quality in Kashan City, Iran. Walailak Journal of Science and Technology (WJST), 10(3), 315-324.
• Jothivenkatachalam, K., Nithya, A., & Mohan, S. C. (2010). Correlation analysis of drinking water quality in and around Perur block of Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India. Rasayan Journal of Chemistry, 3(4), 649-654.