Study on selected parameters of groundwater quality based on different tides, East Coast of Terengganu, Malaysia

• Main Authors: Muhammad Barzani, Gasim, Nadzifah, Yaakub, Azman, Azid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: QH301 Biology
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/5274/1/FH02-ESERI-17-07873.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/5274/
• Institution: Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

Background and Objective: Most of the population along the Terengganu coast and other states in the East coast of Peninsular are dependent on the groundwater resource. As a result of continuous use, some of the wells are contaminated by seawater intrusion, especially during low tide. This study aimed are to determine the water quality in spatial and temporal variations on different tides and to investigate the impact of saltwater intrusion on each sampling well. Methodology: A groundwater quality study was carried out at 13 well sampling stations along the East coast of Terengganu. Each station is located along the coast with distance 38-135 m from the sea, the first sampling was July, 2015 represent for dry season and was repeated on January, 2016 represent for wet season. The eight parameters are Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), salinity, pH, turbidity, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), chloride and other parameter is depth to groundwater level. Groundwater samples were obtained from each well by using Eijelkamp Advanced Peristaltic Pump. Source of variation of these parameters were identified by using the Principle Component Analysis (PCA). Results: The result shows that three water quality parameters EC, salinity and chloride have close related to sea water intrusion during low tide. Distribution of DO relatively low and four other parameters such as turbidity, TSS, TDS and pH have normal concentration during the study carried out. Conclusion: The St. M2 was recorded as the deepest groundwater level (7.9 m) while St. B3 was the shallowest level (2.49 m). The PCA analyses on low and high tides data revealed 3 possible sources that influence the water quality pollution which are saline water contamination, tide inducing factor and anthropogenic activities. The most affected sampling wells due to saltwater contamination are B1, B3, B4 and KT1.