Assessing the Groundwater Quality and Hydrogeochemical Characteristics of Karst Aquifers in Kinta Valley, Perak

Abstract:

The rich karstic limestone aquifer in Kinta Valley, Perak is a potential resource of clean water in the future when the surface water resources will deplete and insufficient to support the growing population. A proper preliminary evaluation of groundwater hydrogeochemistry is essential for knowing the proper application and maintaining the available groundwater as a sustainable resource. Four production wells in Kinta Valley are sampled and analyzed for physicochemical parameters from 2018 to 2020. In this study, major chemical compounds, pH, total hardness (TH), and total dissolved solids (TDS) are interpreted to construct Piper’s trilinear diagram and Gibbs plot which describe the hydrochemistry of the samples. Drinking Water Quality Standard from the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) National Primary Drinking Water Regulation is used as guideline standards for water quality evaluation. Based on the results from this study, the quality of groundwater in Kinta Valley is healthy and has the potential to be used as drinking water besides using as irrigation water. The predominant hydrochemical reaction of the groundwater is found to be a bicarbonate-calcium-magnesium reaction, which shows the aquifers are in contact with the subsurface karst system as the main ions originated from the dissolution of carbonate bedrocks.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 920)
• Pages: 219-225
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-G1fyRs
• Online since: March 2024
• Authors: Ling Xin Khong*, Nur Hidayah Ahmad Nizar, Suhaina Ismail, Noor Aida Saad, Muhammad Azfar Kamaruddin, Hareyani Zabidi
• Keywords: Groundwater, Hydrogeochemistry, Karst, Limestone Aquifer

References

[1] Chan NW, Managing Urban Rivers and Water Quality in Malaysia for Sustainable Water Resources. Int J Water Resour Dev 28 (2012): 343–354

DOI: 10.1080/07900627.2012.668643

[2] Lee KE, Mokhtar M, Mohd Hanafiah M, Abdul Halim A, Badusah J, Rainwater harvesting as an alternative water resource in Malaysia: Potential, policies and development. J Clean Prod 126 (2016):218–222

DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.03.060

[3] Khong LX, Ismail S, Saad NA, Kamaruddin MA, Nizar NHA, Zabidi H, Evaluation on groundwater quality of limestone aquifer in Kinta Valley, Perak for the use as irrigation water. Mater Today Proc 66 (2022):3040–3043

DOI: 10.1016/J.MATPR.2022.07.334

[4] Zabidi H, Termizi M, Aliman S, Ariffin KS, Khalil NL, Geological Structure and Geomorphological Aspects in Karstified Susceptibility Mapping of Limestone Formations. Procedia Chem 19 (2016):659–665

DOI: 10.1016/J.PROCHE.2016.03.067

[5] Waltham AC, Fookes PG, Engineering classification of karst ground conditions. Q J Eng Geol Hydrogeol 36 (2003):101–118

DOI: 10.1144/1470-9236/2002-33

[6] Veress M, Karst types and their karstification. J Earth Sci 31 (2020):621–634

DOI: 10.1007/s12583-020-1306-x

[7] Anua NEQM, Zabidi H, Petrography and Geochemistry of Kinta Valley Palaeozoic Carbonate Rock. J Phys Conf Ser 1082:012095 (2018)

DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/1082/1/012095

[8] Veress M, A General Description of Karst Types. Encyclopedia 2 (2022):1103–1118

DOI: 10.3390/encyclopedia2020073

[9] Yassin RR, Muhammad RF, Taib SH, Al-Kouri O, Application of ERT and Aerial Photographs Techniques to Identify the Consequences of Sinkholes Hazards in Constructing Housing Complexes Sites over Karstic Carbonate Bedrock in Perak, Peninsular Malaysia. J Geogr Geol 6 (2014):55–89

DOI: 10.5539/jgg.v6n3p55

[10] Peng LC, Leman MS, Karim R, Peng LC, Stratigraphy lexicon of Malaysia. Geological Society of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2004).

[11] Bhatnagar A, Hogland W, Marques M, Sillanpää M, An overview of the modification methods of activated carbon for its water treatment applications. Chem Eng J 219 (2013):499–511

DOI: 10.1016/J.CEJ.2012.12.038

[12] Hashim MA, Mukhopadhyay S, Sahu JN, Sengupta B, Remediation technologies for heavy metal contaminated groundwater. J Environ Manage 92 (2011):2355–2388

DOI: 10.1016/J.JENVMAN.2011.06.009

[13] EPA, National Primary Drinking Water Regulations | US EPA. In: Epa.gov United States Environ. Prot. Agency (2020). https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations. Accessed 6 Jan (2023)

DOI: 10.2172/10176450

[14] MOH, Drinking Water Quality Standard (2016). https://environment.com.my/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Drinking-Water-MOH.pdf

[15] Piper AM, A graphic procedure in the geochemical interpretation of water‐analyses. Eos, Trans Am Geophys Union 25(1944):914–928

DOI: 10.1029/TR025I006P00914

[16] Gibbs RJ (1970) Mechanisms controlling world water chemistry. Science 170:1088–1090

DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.170.3962.1088

[17] He X, Wu J, He S (2019) Hydrochemical characteristics and quality evaluation of groundwater in terms of health risks in Luohe aquifer in Wuqi County of the Chinese Loess Plateau, northwest China. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 25:32–51

DOI: 10.1080/10807039.2018.1531693

[18] Sharma CM, Kang S, Tripathee L, Paudyal R, Sillanpää M (2020) Major ions and irrigation water quality assessment of the Nepalese Himalayan rivers. Environ Dev Sustain 2020 232 23:2668–2680

DOI: 10.1007/S10668-020-00694-1

[19] Elsayed Gabr M, Soussa H, Fattouh E (2021) Groundwater quality evaluation for drinking and irrigation uses in Dayrout city Upper Egypt. Ain Shams Eng J 12:327–340

DOI: 10.1016/j.asej.2020.05.010