EXAMINATION AND ANALYSIS OF BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION AND GENERALIZED WATER QUALITY ALONG MT. EVEREST BASE CAMP HIGHWAY, SAGARMATHA NATIONAL PARK, NEPAL

Thousands of tourists visit the Sagarmatha National Park (SNP), Nepal (Mt. Everest region) every year and contribute to a waste disposal and sanitation problem threatening the quality of the drinking water supply. In Nepal, due to increasing tourist numbers, unsanitary disposal of wastes and poor sanitation practices, many of the water sources are becoming polluted. In 2005, South and Southwest Asia had the lowest coverage levels for improved sanitation than any other sub-region within the Asia and Pacific region; Nepal had the lowest coverage rates within that sub-region. The immediate need is to assess water quality, health impacts, and sustainability of the drinking water systems of Nepal. This study focused on the collection and analysis of water samples along the trek to Mt. Everest. The fieldwork was completed in May and early November 2014 in an attempt to understand the contamination of drinking water sources in the SNP.

Overall, the data we collected presented a predictable correlation between fecal contamination and both decreasing elevation and increasing population/tourist traffic. Drinking water within the study area meets current World Health Organization drinking water standards for temperature (2.8°C - 13°C), pH (5.27 - 7.24), conductivity (17.87 mS - 133 mS) and TDS (7.24 ppm - 65.5 ppm). A total 41 samples were collected for this study: 5 were analyzed for bacteria in May and all tested positive for E. coli; 5 of the 36 samples analyzed in November also tested positive for E. coli. Samples collected and analyzed in May (pre-monsoon summer) had a higher level of E. coli and coliform bacteria than samples collected in November (post-monsoon early winter) suggesting a seasonal dependence. Samples from the more populated, lower altitude, areas had higher levels of E. coli. Physical parameters measured in the field, temperature, pH, total dissolved solids and conductivity, decreased with increasing elevation, and proved poor indicators of water contamination.

Our study clearly indicates that there is a significant presence of bacterial indicators of fecal pollution in surface waters. Further work is needed to determine the influence of contaminated surface water on the shallow groundwater drinking sources, as their importance is likely to increase with current global warming trends.