Tourism Impact on Water Quality in Swat during Winter and Summer Seasons

Abstract

Tourism may be a source of income or it may pose harm to the environment. This study examines the effects of unplanned tourism on the degradation of essential resource like clean water. This study includes fieldwork and lab analysis to evaluate the consequences of tourism activities on water quality. Forty-eight samples were analyzed for physicochemical and microbiological characteristics collected from four sampling sites. During the busiest travel seasons, tourist destinations samples had greater amounts of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), conductivity, chloride, and coliform bacteria than specimens from non-tourist and off-season locations. TDS varying from 87. 34 mg/l to 112. 29 mg/l to 223. 26 mg/l; conductivity ranged from 150. 32 µs/cm to 199 µs/cm, increasing to 307 µs/cm; and chloride varied from 5. 37 mg/l to 7. 1 mg/l, and reached up to 18. 89 mg/l. The range of fecal coliform bacteria was 1. 0 to 3. 6 (MPN/100ml), while the range of coliform bacteria was 1. 0 to 2. 8 (MPN/100ml) and up to 5. 1 (MPN/100ml). More than half (52%) of the hotels evaluated had inadequate waste management procedures, which led to waste being discharged into nearby rivers and streams. The industry needs environmentally responsible strategies, as suggested by the 76% of travelers who support sustainable tourism practices. The findings demonstrate a direct correlation between rising tourism and deteriorating water quality.

Keywords: Tourism, water quality, physicochemical, microbiological analysis, mitigations.