An Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Sagarmatha National Park (Mt Everest Region), Nepal
This study investigated the bacteriological characteristics and physical parameters of drinking water sources in Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal. The park is located in the southeastern part of the Nepali Himalaya and includes the southern slopes of Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). During the 2016 premonsoo...
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International Mountain Society
2018-11-01
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doaj-ba0e813d714c4c6cbd023b97563fbd322020-11-25T01:35:48ZengInternational Mountain SocietyMountain Research and Development0276-47411994-71512018-11-0138435336310.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-17-00024.1An Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Sagarmatha National Park (Mt Everest Region), NepalKirsten Ngaire Nicholson0Klaus Neumann1Carolyn Dowling2Joshua Gruver3Hannah Sherman4Subodh Sharma5Department of Geological Sciences, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, USA; knichols@bsu.eduDepartment of Geological Sciences, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, USADepartment of Geological Sciences, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, USADepartment of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USASchool of Science, Kathmandu University, GPO Box 6250, Kathmandu, NepalThis study investigated the bacteriological characteristics and physical parameters of drinking water sources in Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal. The park is located in the southeastern part of the Nepali Himalaya and includes the southern slopes of Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). During the 2016 premonsoon dry season, we sampled 29 community drinking water sources and 5 surface-water sources. The physical properties of the samples ranged as follows: temperature 3–17°C, pH 5.41–7.81, conductivity 33.6–175.5 µS, and total dissolved solids 17.3–94.3 ppm. All of the samples tested met World Health Organization drinking water standards for physical parameters. In terms of fecal contamination, 8 samples contained no CFUs (colony-forming units), conforming to the World Health Organization and Nepali national standards; the remaining 26 samples contained between 1 and 100 CFUs, and this range is rated a low to moderate risk by the World Health Organization but fails to meet the Nepali standards. The data show a positive correlation between bacteria content and temperature, and a weak negative correlation between bacteria content and elevation. Samples from the more populated, lowerelevation (<3500 m) areas had higher levels of Escherichia coli and of coliform bacteria in general. This suggests that the samples from warmer and lower-elevation areas have a higher proportion of surface water in the drinking water, which would account for their elevated bacterial content. This indicates that the deeper groundwater may be uncontaminated and should be the focus of future investigations.https://bioone.org/journals/Mountain-Research-and-Development/volume-38/issue-4/MRD-JOURNAL-D-17-00024.1/An-Assessment-of-Drinking-Water-Sources-in-Sagarmatha-National-Park/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-17-00024.1.fullE. colifecal coliform bacteriaMt Everestpotable drinking waterSagarmathatourism impactwater quality monitoring |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Kirsten Ngaire Nicholson Klaus Neumann Carolyn Dowling Joshua Gruver Hannah Sherman Subodh Sharma |
spellingShingle |
Kirsten Ngaire Nicholson Klaus Neumann Carolyn Dowling Joshua Gruver Hannah Sherman Subodh Sharma An Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Sagarmatha National Park (Mt Everest Region), Nepal Mountain Research and Development E. coli fecal coliform bacteria Mt Everest potable drinking water Sagarmatha tourism impact water quality monitoring |
author_facet |
Kirsten Ngaire Nicholson Klaus Neumann Carolyn Dowling Joshua Gruver Hannah Sherman Subodh Sharma |
author_sort |
Kirsten Ngaire Nicholson |
title |
An Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Sagarmatha National Park (Mt Everest Region), Nepal |
title_short |
An Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Sagarmatha National Park (Mt Everest Region), Nepal |
title_full |
An Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Sagarmatha National Park (Mt Everest Region), Nepal |
title_fullStr |
An Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Sagarmatha National Park (Mt Everest Region), Nepal |
title_full_unstemmed |
An Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Sagarmatha National Park (Mt Everest Region), Nepal |
title_sort |
assessment of drinking water sources in sagarmatha national park (mt everest region), nepal |
publisher |
International Mountain Society |
series |
Mountain Research and Development |
issn |
0276-4741 1994-7151 |
publishDate |
2018-11-01 |
description |
This study investigated the bacteriological characteristics and physical parameters of drinking water sources in Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal. The park is located in the southeastern part of the Nepali Himalaya and includes the southern slopes of Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). During the 2016 premonsoon dry season, we sampled 29 community drinking water sources and 5 surface-water sources. The physical properties of the samples ranged as follows: temperature 3–17°C, pH 5.41–7.81, conductivity 33.6–175.5 µS, and total dissolved solids 17.3–94.3 ppm. All of the samples tested met World Health Organization drinking water standards for physical parameters. In terms of fecal contamination, 8 samples contained no CFUs (colony-forming units), conforming to the World Health Organization and Nepali national standards; the remaining 26 samples contained between 1 and 100 CFUs, and this range is rated a low to moderate risk by the World Health Organization but fails to meet the Nepali standards. The data show a positive correlation between bacteria content and temperature, and a weak negative correlation between bacteria content and elevation. Samples from the more populated, lowerelevation (<3500 m) areas had higher levels of Escherichia coli and of coliform bacteria in general. This suggests that the samples from warmer and lower-elevation areas have a higher proportion of surface water in the drinking water, which would account for their elevated bacterial content. This indicates that the deeper groundwater may be uncontaminated and should be the focus of future investigations. |
topic |
E. coli fecal coliform bacteria Mt Everest potable drinking water Sagarmatha tourism impact water quality monitoring |
url |
https://bioone.org/journals/Mountain-Research-and-Development/volume-38/issue-4/MRD-JOURNAL-D-17-00024.1/An-Assessment-of-Drinking-Water-Sources-in-Sagarmatha-National-Park/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-17-00024.1.full |
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