General Geology of (Telong, Bachok, Kelantan) And Determination of Groundwater Quality for Public Safe Drinking Water in Mukim Telong Dumpsite

Physical and chemical analyses were carried out of groundwater samples from seven boreholes located near a landfill at Telong, Bachok, to ascertain the effect of the dumpsite on the groundwater quality. The samples collected from boreholes with radial distances of 50 m, 100 m, 150 m, respectively away from the landfill and fourteen samples of preserved and unpreserved groundwater collected were analysed. The physical parameters determined were the turbidity, pH, colour, total dissolved solids (TDS) and chemical parameters determined were chloride, carbonate and bicarbonate, sulphate, nitrate, ammonia, calcium, iron and heavy metals such as copper, lead, and zinc. Only several parameters such as mercury and ammonia indicated pollution but were below the World Health Organization (WHO) limits for consumption. The turbidity ranged from 0.65 to 10.1 NTU, pH values were between 6.73 to 7.5 and TDS ranged from 16 to 148 mg/I. The concentration of iron ranged from 0.1 to 2.3 mg/I, nitrate ranged from 0.2 to 27.5mg/I, ammonia ranged from -0.3 to 3.5 mg/I, manganese ranged from less than 0.1 to 0.18 mg/I and aluminium ranged from less than 0.1 to 0.6 mg/I. The results showed that all the boreholes were not strongly polluted but require treatment before use. Re-designing of sanitary landfills to prevent leachate from percolating through groundwater, adoption of clean technology for recycling greenhouse gases and a sustainable land management programme for reclamation are recommended.