Assessment of water pump’s corrosion scales and water quality of selected schemes in Abbottabad, Pakistan

Abstract

In the present study, decades old water pump corrosion scales were characterized and some of the water quality parameters were assessed in Abbottabad city, Pakistan. Characterization results revealed the presence of Fe-O and Si-O-Si stretching vibrations in FTIR spectra and SEM images showed the granular and smooth interconnected compositions of magnetite, calcite and quartz, which were the major constituents of corrosion scales observed in elemental analysis. Water quality results demonstrated that all parameters including pH, alkalinity, TSS, TDS, Mg, Na, K, nitrate and phosphate were within WHO permissible limits except Fe. However, TSS values in the both schemes were significantly varied from each other at significance level of 0.05. Moreover, the recorded Fe concentration was found to be 0.92 and 1.091 mg/L in Mirpur and Cantt, respectively exceeding the standard level of 0.3 mg/L and could cause health consequences after prolong exposure.