2.2. Sampling
Representative water samples were collected in triplicate from
surface water (stream) and sub-surface water (dug wells and
springs) in the cleaned polyethylene bottles from already selected
sampling sites of the study area in spring season (month of March)
(Fig. 1). Polyethylene bottles were washed with double deionized
water (DDW) before taking the representative water samples. Temperature
(T), pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and total dissolved
solids (TDS) were measured on spot using a CONSORT C931 instrument.
Each water sample was filtered through whatman (0.45 μm)
filter paper and added few drops of nitric acid (HNO3) in bottle on
spot. All the collected water samples were transported to the Geochemistry
laboratory of the National Center of Excellence in Geology,
University of Peshawar and stored in a refrigerator at 4 °C for further
analyses.
Fig.