Geology and groundwater quality analysis of domestic wells around Kampung Panglima Bayu, Tanah Merah District, Kelantan, Malaysia

The current project is part of a final year undergraduate research project that focuses on geological mapping and groundwater quality analysis of domestic wells in and around Kampung Panglima Bayu, which is a district in Tanah Merah, Kelantan, with latitudes ranging from 05° 47’ 30.00” N to 05° 50’ 20.00” N and longitudes ranging from 101° 56’ 20.00” N to 101° 59’00.00” N. Several methods were used to create an updated geological map including fieldwork inputs such as sample collection from fresh outcrops, field observations such as geomorphological characteristics, drainage patterns, and others were that has not been mapped on a small scale. All field data, including petrographic study, was processed in a GIS-based platform to create geological and other relevant thematic maps. The objective of this research is to produce an updated geological map of the study area at a scale of 1:25000 and conduct groundwater quality analysis in the research region. Groundwater samples were obtained from 12 domestic wells for the analysis of physicochemical parameters. Temperature, pH, Electrical Conductivity, Turbidity, and Total Dissolved Solids were measured using Multiparameter and Turbidity meter on site. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) was used to analyse major trace elements such as potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and manganese, while titration was used to analyse bicarbonate and chloride and spectrophotometer methods were used to analyse fluoride, sulphate, and nitrate. Based on data analysis of the geology of Kampung Panglima Bayu, three lithologies can be concluded: granite is the most common kind of rock detected in the research region, followed by schist and alluvium. Furthermore, the geomorphology of the study area revealed elevation differences consisting of low land to high hills. The petrographic analysis revealed that the granites have acidic composition. The granite rocks identified are known as 'biotite granite porphyry' because of the high amount of biotite mineral in the thin section that correlated with previous research. Besides that, when the results of the analysis for groundwater quality were compared to World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health Malaysia (MoHM) standards values it was discovered that 7 of the 12 wells were contaminated because the Ph value that was below the normal level. Turbidity was high in wells 4, 5, and 11, and sodium ion levels surpassed the standard allowable limit in well 11. Besides that, according to the piper diagram the sodium bicarbonate facies is the most dominating group. Lastly, the study areas total water quality was also determined using the Water Quality Index (WQI), which showed that the overall well water quality is good.