Simulation of Groundwater Flow and Pollutant Transport for Alluvial Aquifer in Kampung Tekek, Tioman Island

Abstract

Pulau Tioman terletak di pantai timur Semenanjung Malaysia. Akibat pembangunan yang pesat dalam industri pelancongan, permintaan terhadap bekalan air dijangka akan meningkat di pulau ini. Daripada kajian yang telah dijalankan sebelumnya, didapati airbumi merupakan sumber air yang berpotensi. Satu perisian model 3–dimensi (Visual MODFLOW) telah digunakan untuk menghasilkan model aliran airbumi dan pengangkutan bahan pencemar di Kampung Tekek dengan tujuan meramal simpanan airbumi dan penyebaran bahan pencemar, iaitu nitrat, semasa pengepaman. Daripada keputusan simulasi aliran airbumi yang diperolehi, pengepaman akuifer di Kampung Tekek dapat mencapai pada kadar 4000 m³/hari. Kajian model bahan pencemar menunjukkan kepekatan bahan pencemar nitrat yang tercatat di telaga pam didapati agak rendah dan memenuhi piawaian air minuman World Health Organisation (WHO). Kata kunci: Aliran airbumi, bahan pencemar, model numerik, Visual MODFLOW, pulau Tioman Island is situated in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. With rapid growth in tourism industry, the demand for water supply is expected to increase in this island. From previous studies, groundwater was found to be a potential source of water. A 3–dimensional numerical modelling software (Visual MODFLOW) is used to simulate the groundwater flow and pollutant transport of the aquifer in Kampung Tekek, for the prediction of available yield of groundwater, and also for studying the migration of potential contaminant source, i.e. nitrate, due to the withdrawal. The groundwater flow simulation results showed that the aquifer is capable of pumping 4000 m³/day. Results of pollutant transport modelling showed that the estimated concentration of nitrate in the pump well is generally low and complies with World Health Organisation (WHO) standard for drinking water. Key words: Groundwater flow, pollutant transport, numerical model, Visual MODFLOW, island