Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Environmental Earth Sciences, cilt.84, sa.640, ss.1-12, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
This study assessed the suitability of Kabul city’s groundwater for human consumption. To determine GW quality, data on
10 physio-chemical parameters, namely pH (–), turbidity (NTU), total dissolved solids (TDS, mg/L), electrical conductivity
(EC, μS/cm), calcium (Ca²⁺, mg/L), manganese (Mn, mg/L), iron (Fe, mg/L), fluoride (F⁻, mg/L), phosphate (PO₄³⁻,
mg/L), and total hardness (TH, mg/L as CaCO₃) were retrieved from the National Environmental Protection Agency
(NEPA) of Afghanistan in the 22 municipal districts of Kabul city during the summer and autumn of 2023. In this study,
Weighted Arithmetic method was used to calculate Water Quality Index (WQI) values and inverse distance weighting
(IDW) interpolation techniques was used in geographic information system (GIS) for parallel prediction at unsampled
locations in the study area. Findings indicated that in summer, the WQI values ranged between 139 and 159, indicating
excellent to unfit drinking categories because of elevated concentrations of EC (μS/cm) and TDS (mg/L). In contrast,
in autumn, the WQI values fluctuated between 4 and 56. In summer 2023, 20% of the groundwater in the research area
was rated as excellent, 40% as poor, and 7% as unfit for human consumption. In contrast, in the fall of 2023, 46% of
the groundwater was classified as excellent, 23% as good, and 7% as unfit for human consumption. The present study
suggests the need of focused interventions at sampling locations with high levels of TDS (mg/L), Ca²⁺ (mg/L) and Mn
(mg/L), resulting in high WQI values and low water quality. The findings of this study provide urgent need for continuous
monitoring and better wastewater management while offering crucial baseline insights into Kabul’s groundwater quality.
In data scares cities like Kabul, this study emphasizes the significance of growing water-quality datasets to support
sustainable urban water management.