Geology of Jeli and application of zeolite in water treatment

The study area is located in Ayer Lanas, near the border of Jeli and Bukit Bunga, Tanah Merah, Kelantan. The research is focusing on the general geology of the study area with an area of 25km2 that is located by the latitude of 5°46'36.38"N to 5°49'53.83"N and longitude of 101°52'51.22"E to 101°55'05.78"E and also the application of zeolite in water treatment. The main objective of this research is to update the geological map of Ayer Lanas with a scale of 1:25000 and to identify the effectiveness of zeolite in treating contaminated water. During geological mapping process, seven rock samples which consist of three granites, two siltstones and two quartzites have been collected from different outcrops throughout the study area. Petrography analysis of rock samples were analysed using optical microscope to observe minerals in higher magnification and to determine the type of rock. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) method was also used in this research to observe the major elements composition of the rock samples as well as zeolite sample. The data collected from the geological mapping was processed using ArcGIS 10.8 software and several maps such as geological map, lithology map, topographic map, drainage pattern map, and lineament map were produced. Based on the observation, the study area consists mainly of granite unit of Kemahang Formation, siltstone unit of Quaternary alluvium deposits unit and quartzite unit. For research specification, the water samples were collected several selected rivers and streams in Jeli district which are from a stream in UMK Jeli, Pergau River of different locations, Lanas River and also a stream in Jeli Town. Every water samples collected were labelled as ZS1, ZS2, ZS3, ZS4, ZS5 respectively according to the sampling location. In-situ analysis of the river water quality was carried out at every sampling location and the water samples collected were then brought to the laboratory to be treated with sand, zeolite and gravel layers. Then, the water samples were tested using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) to analyse the concentration of selected heavy metal elements (i.e. cadmium, Cd, lead, Pb, copper, Cu and manganese, Mn) before and after water treatment process. The results obtained from the research shows that the application of zeolite in water treatment has successfully reduced the concentration of the heavy metal elements below the standard water quality of Ministry by Health Malaysia (MOH). Mn element in ZS1 has reduced a significant concentration of 0.131mg/L from 0.168mg/L to 0.037mg/L after water treatment process. Meanwhile, Cu element in ZS1 has reduced a total concentration of 0.093mg/L from 0.095mg/L to 0.002mg/L. Therefore, the application of zeolite in water treatment able to improve water quality for various purposes such as domestic, agriculture and industrial.