Groundwater contamination with the threat of COVID-19: Insights into CSR theory of Carroll's pyramid

Chunhui Huo; Afzal Ahmed Dar; Ahsan Nawaz; Javaria Hameed; Gadah Albashar; Bao Pan; Chuanyi Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jksus.2020.101295

Groundwater contamination with the threat of COVID-19: Insights into CSR theory of Carroll's pyramid

J King Saud Univ Sci. 2021 Mar;33(2):101295. doi: 10.1016/j.jksus.2020.101295. Epub 2020 Dec 17.

Authors

Chunhui Huo¹, Afzal Ahmed Dar², Ahsan Nawaz³, Javaria Hameed¹, Gadah Albashar⁴, Bao Pan⁵, Chuanyi Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Asia-Australia Business College, Liaoning University, Shenyang, China.
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xian, China.
³ Institute of Construction Project Management, Collage of Civil Engineering & Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riad, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xian, China.

Abstract

In this study, we elucidated the effect of sewage drain on groundwater contamination as including different contaminants, microbes, and pathogens, which deteriorating the groundwater by poor infiltration and seepage. This is getting severer in developing countries like India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, where unprocessed effluent is discharged into the water bodies. This study was planned to elucidate the effect of sewage drain (based on distance 0-5, 5-10, 15-20, 20-25 m) from two different sewage drains to explain the different physiochemical, and biological parameters including total soluble solids (TSS), chloride, total dissolved solids (TDS), calcium, total hardness, magnesium, nitrate, chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen (D.O.), and biological oxygen demand (BOD). Drainage channel number-1 results showed that E. coli (positive), coliform count (22.75-48.66 /100 mL), and BOD (8-25.75 mgL^-1) remained above the permissible limit of the World Health Organization (WHO). Besides, drainage channel number 2 results exposed that E. coli (positive), coliform count (17.7-47 /100 mL), and BOD (6.25-21.5 mg/ L) was not within the permissible limit of WHO. The presence of COVID-19 in the stool has been significantly reported in the literature. The presence of stool in sewage drain leading to groundwater contamination can be an emerging threat to water pollution and could lead to the spread of COVID-19. This study helps to minimize this threat with the help of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Because organizational responsibility towards its society is one of the critical factors to contain numerous issues related to the society.

Keywords: Biological fecal contamination; COVID-19; CSR theory; Groundwater.