Estimation of Different Biochemical Intensities in Drinking Water from Eastern Region of Lahore City

Background: Lahore is city of over 8 million population with consumption of over 350 million gallons of fresh water per day. The present study was undertaken to determine the suitability of ground water from different areas of Mughalpura Lahore which is being used for drinking purposes.Methods: The ionic concentration of TDS (total dissolved solids), TSS (total suspended solids), calcium, magnesium, sulphate, chloride, carbonate, bicarbonate and alkalinity in the collected water samples was determined. The concentration of heavy metals like Cu, Cr, Zn, Cd, As, Pb and Fe was estimated by applying American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods. The EC (electrical conductivity), pH, BOD (biological oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen demand) values of the water were also measured. Data was statistically analyzed through analysis of variance technique.Results: Increasing concentrations of heavy metals like Cu, Cr, Zn, Cd, As, Pb, Fe and TDS, TSS, calcium, magnesium, sulphate, chloride, carbonate, bicarbonate and alkalinity were obtained. The observed values of EC, BOD and COD were also high in range. Only the pH value obtained was in the range of WHO standards.Conclusion: It was concluded from correlation among various chemical components in water like Ca+2, Mg+2, HCO3- and SO4-2 that this water is not safe for drinking according to WHO standards. The correlation among alkalinity, pH, Ca+2, Cl-, EC, HCO3-, SO4-2, TH and TSS further suggested that the samples with higher amount of these components must not be used for drinking purposes by animals and human

Diamondoid Hydrocarbons as Maturity Indicators for Condensates from Southern Indus Basin, Pakistan

Diamondoid hydrocarbons have been examined in condensates reservoired in the Southern Indus Basin using GC-MS. Bulk properties reveal that samples are waxy and low sulfur with the exception of Pakhro and Gopang which are nonwaxy. TIC show bimodal distribution of n-alkanes along with high abundance of C20+ n-alkanes indicating substantial contribution of terrigeneous OM in these samples. CPI close to one is consistent with mature nature of oils. The samples show two ranges of Pr/Ph ratios. Those within the range of 2.2–2.7 reflect marine depositional settings for OM while others with Pr/Ph >3 may have originated from terrestrial OM deposited under marine oxic conditions. The cross plot of Pr/n-C17 versus Ph/n-C18 indicate type III kerogen as main source of OM deposited under marine to marine oxic conditions. The values of diamondoid based maturity parameters, like methyladamantane index 54.1–75.8% and methyldiamantane index 34.9–56.3% indicate high level of thermal maturity corresponding to vitrinite reflectance 1.1–1.6%. No biodegradation is observed in any of these samples as shown by methyladamantanes/adamantane 3.99–5.52 and methyldiamantanes/diamantane 2.16–2.99 and supported by high values of API gravity (45.13°–60.02°) and absence of UCM