Application of geochemical and geostatistical analyses in observing the controlling factors of groundwater compositions

The groundwater hydrogeochemistry assessment has been carried out based on physic–chemical parameters (which are in situ and major ions) to observe the hydrochemical mechanism that might occur and control the groundwater chemistry changes. A total of 216 groundwater samples from Kapas Island were collected bimonthly during two different monsoon seasons which were South–West Monsoon known as pre-monsoon (August–October 2010) and North–East Monsoon known as post-monsoon (February–April 2011). Geochemical data on dissolved major constituents in groundwater samples from the Kapas Island revealed the main processes responsible for their hydrogeochemical evolution. The abundance of major ions revealed Ca > Na > Mg > K and HCO3 > Cl > SO4 dominations. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) extracts four (pre-monsoon) and three (post-monsoon) effective components which explained the origin of groundwater sources which have 81.6 and 78.9 % of total variances respectively. Comprised of variables TDS, EC, Salinity, Eh, pH, Cl, and Na in component 1, pre-monsoon experienced slightly saline process while component 1 in post-monsoon consist of Mg, TDS, EC, Salinity, Ca, Na, pH, Eh and HCO3 described the mineralization process of the geological matrix have taken place. Saturation indices of carbonate minerals were calculated using PHREEQC for window software; calcite, dolomite and aragonite solubility showed strong and positive correlationship value (p < 0.01) with Ca constituent respectively, also indicating mineralization processes

The traffic volume and Level of Service (LOS) of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Serdang campus main access

The inbound and outbound traffic flow characteristic of a campus is an important physical component of overall university setting. The traffic circulation generated may create indirect effects on the environment such as, disturbance to lecture time when traffic congestion occurs during peak-hours, loss of natural environment and greenery, degradation of the visual environment by improper or illegal parking, air pollution from motorized vehicles either moving or in idle mode due to traffic congestion, noise pollution, energy consumption, land use arrangement and health effects on the community of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Serdang. A traffic volume and Level of Service (LOS) study is required to facilitate better accessibility and improves the road capacity within the campus area. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the traffic volume and Level of Service of the main access the UPM Serdang campus. A traffic survey was conducted over three (3) weekdays during an active semester to understand the traffic flow pattern. The findings on traffic flow during peak hours are highlighted. The conclusions of on-campus traffic flow patterns are also draw

Vehicle – pedestrian conflict: a case study in Universiti Putra Malaysia

Vehicle-pedestrian conflict is a commonly unsafe event that occurs in both urban and rural areas, especially in developing countries. It is still an open research topic, mostly in traffic safety and urban planning, which is utilised for evaluating the behaviours of vehicles and pedestrians at a non-signalised marked walkway. Three stations were selected based on higher daily activities to calculate the regularity of pedestrian movement. A manual calculation method was applied, and the calculation was done only during the daytime. Three different teams were formed to obtain the measurements at the three different sampling points simultaneously. A present study on preliminary vehicle-pedestrian conflict reveals the frequency of pedestrians in a concentrated area and its Level of Service (LOS) in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Serdang. The findings show that rush hour occurs during the mid-day in weekday, when students have finished their classes and adults have gone out for other businesses

Variability on particulate matter and meteorology dataset during the hazy period in eastern region of Peninsular Malaysia

This paper provides detail on sequence analysis of hazy days based on eight monitoring stations from three states (Kelantan, Ter- engganu and Pahang) in the eastern region of Peninsular Malaysia. The dataset comprises of 1502 daily mean hazy days that had been measured for a decade. The meteorology data namely wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, relative humidity and particulate matter (PM10) were used to comprehend the variability, and the relationship existed amongst variables. The final dataset consists of a summary descriptive analysis and a boxplot, where all five var- iables were involved, including the minimum, maximum, mean, 1st quartile, median, 3rd quartile and standard deviation are pre- sented. Apart from descriptive analysis, the normality test and histogram were performed as well

Application of environmetric methods to surface water quality assessment of Langkawi Geopark (Malaysia).

Cluster analysis (CA), discriminant analysis (DA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were applied to evaluate the spatial variation in the river water quality data matrix of Langkawi Geopark. The CA result rendered two groups based on their similar properties. Group 1 comprised the sampling sites LG1, LG2, LG3, LG4, LG5, LG6, LG7, LG9, LG10, LG11, LG13, and LG14; Group 2 was further divided into two groups: Group 2(i) consisted of LG8, LG15, LG17, and LG19 while Group 2(ii) consisted of LG12, LG16, and LG18. DA revealed that COD, Cr and SO4 were the most significant parameters for discrimination between Group 1 and Group 2. The PCA results extracted seven components for Group 1 and six components for Group 2. Agriculture and sand mining were identified as the main latent pollution sources contributing to Group 1, while recreational activities constituted the major pollution source contributing to Group 2. This study illustrates the usefulness of environmetric techniques in the interpretation of complex data, optimizing monitoring networks to a lower cost mentoring program and controlling the degradation of surface water quality in Langkawi Geopark

Application of geoaccumulation index and enrichment factors on the assessment of heavy metal pollution in the sediments.

An investigative study was carried out in Langat River to determine the heavy metal pollution in the sediment with 22 sampling stations selected for the collection of sediment samples. The sediment samples were digested and analyzed for extractable metal ((48)Cd, (29)Cu, (30)Zn, (33)As, (82)Pb) using the Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Parameters, such as pH, Eh, electrical conductivity (EC), salinity, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and loss on ignition (LOI) were also determined. The assessment of heavy metal pollution was derived using the enrichment factors (EF) and geoaccumulation index (I(geo)). This study revealed that the sediment is predominantly by As > Cd > Pb > Zn > Cu. As recorded the highest EF value at 187.45 followed by Cd (100.59), Pb (20.32), Zn (12.42) and Cu (3.46). This is similar to the I(geo), which indicates that the highest level goes to As (2.2), exhibits moderately polluted. Meanwhile, Cd recorded 1.8 and Pb (0.23), which illustrates that both of these elements vary from unpolluted to moderately polluted. The Cu and Zn levels are below 0, which demonstrates background concentrations. The findings are expected to update the current status of the heavy metal pollution as well as creating awareness concerning the security of the river water as a drinking water source

Highly efficient removal of diazinon pesticide from aqueous solutions by using coconut shell-modified biochar

This study evaluates the adsorption of diazinon from aqueous solutions onto coconut shell-modified biochar using a batch system. The amount of dosage and initial pH are the main parameters being studied to obtain maximum adsorption capacity of the probe molecules. The carbonized coconut shell biochar (BC1), activated coconut shell biochar (BC2), chemically modified phosphoric acid (BC3) and sodium hydroxide coconut shell biochar (BC4) were prepared and tested as variables in the adsorption experiment. The characteristic of biochar via SEM, EDX and BET analysis revealed the large porous of surface morphology and slight changes in the composition with high surface area (405.97 – 508.07 m2/g) by following the sequence of BC3 > BC2 > BC4. Diazinon removal percentage as high as 98.96% was achieved at pH 7 with BC3 as adsorbent dosing at 5.0 g/L. The high coefficient of determination, R2 with a small value of ERRSQ and χ2 error analysis present the BC1 (0.9971) and BC2 (0.9999) are best fitted with Freundlich isotherm indicates multilayer sorption onto heterogeneous surface whereby the Langmuir isotherm model is the best fitting is described of monolayer adsorption process onto the homogenous surface of BC3 and BC4. The results indicated the maximum adsorption capacity (qm) was achieved by BC3 with 10.33 mg/g, followed by BC2 (9.65 mg/g) in accordance to the Langmuir isotherm while Freundlich isotherm showed the highest adsorption capacity (kF) with 1.73 mg/g (L/mg)1/n followed by BC4 with 0.63 mg/g (L/mg)1/n at favorable adsorption isotherm (1 ≤ n ≤ 10). Thus, the results obtained depicted that BC2 and BC3 are highly efficient adsorbents and both exhibit great potential in removing diazinon from aqueous solutions

In vitro anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of boesenbergin A, a chalcone isolated from Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) (fingerroot)

The current in vitro study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of boesenbergin A (BA), a chalcone derivative of known structure isolated from Boesenbergia rotunda. Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29), non-small cell lung cancer (A549), prostate adenocarcinoma (PC3), and normal hepatic cells (WRL-68) were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of BA using the MTT assay. The antioxidant activity of BA was assessed by the ORAC assay and compared to quercetin as a standard reference antioxidant. ORAC results are reported as the equivalent concentration of Trolox that produces the same level of antioxidant activity as the sample tested at 20 µg/mL. The toxic effect of BA on different cell types, reported as IC50, yielded 20.22 ± 3.15, 10.69 ± 2.64, 20.31 ± 1.34, 94.10 ± 1.19, and 9.324 ± 0.24 µg/mL for A549, PC3, HepG2, HT-29, and WRL-68, respectively. BA displayed considerable antioxidant activity, when the results of ORAC assay were reported as Trolox equivalents. BA (20 µg/mL) and quercetin (5 µg/mL) were equivalent to a Trolox concentration of 11.91 ± 0.23 and 160.32 ± 2.75 µM, respectively. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory activity of BA was significant at 12.5 to 50 µg/mL and without any significant cytotoxicity for the murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 at 50 µg/mL. The significant biological activities observed in this study indicated that BA may be one of the agents responsible for the reported biological activities of B. rotunda crude extract

Hydrochemistry evolution in the shallow aquifer of Pulau Kapas, Terengganu, Malaysia

Classified as a small island, Pulau Kapas, Terengganu, Malaysia has become renowned locations among tourists as it served clean beaches with attractive scenery, ocean activities and turtle hatching. In Malaysia, islands are one of the biggest contributors to ecotourism activities, which support the national economic growth and help to sustain Malaysia’s development. Apart from playing an important role in tourism, most of the small tropical islands faces similar problems regarding supplying freshwater. Due to the absence of surface water, small islands experiences major problems especially in supplying freshwater where groundwater abstraction is the only way to meet the demand of drinking water and domestic use. Higher demand of groundwater usage in the small island would possess a threat to the groundwater quality for example seawater intrusion and climate variation. The excess groundwater withdrawal may lead to vertical and lateral seawater intrusion. Meanwhile, climate variability is referring to low groundwater quantity due to dry season may eventually decreased its quality. Without proper planning and management, tourism could lead to degradation of an island environment. This study aimed to provide data on the temporal distribution of groundwater hydrochemistry in the small tropical islands and the important factors controlling the groundwater evolution as well as the spatial variation based on the study area characteristic. A total of 216 groundwater samples were collected during different monsoon of pre-, (dry season; August – October 2010) and post-monsoon, (wet season; February – April 2011) in six constructed monitoring boreholes (KW 1, KW 2, KW 3, KW 4, KW 5 and KW 6). Triplicate samples in each monitoring boreholes were analyzed including physicochemical parameter of in-situ and major ions as well as cation exchanges capacity analysis and heavy metals measurement. Based on ANOVA test, all of the parameters show significant effects (p < 0.01) with the changes of monsoon seasons. The groundwater hydrochemistry facies were displays as Na-rich with Na-HCO3 type during pre-monsoon while Ca-rich with Ca-HCO3 type during post-monsoon, respectively. Based on the environmental investigation via analytical analyses, the ionic ratios were used to distinguish the origin and chemical behavior of the groundwater where the groundwater was influenced by the cation exchanges processes, simple mixing and water-rock interaction. The saturation indices (SI) with respect to calcite and aragonite described that 76% of the groundwater samples were in under-saturation state (during pre-monsoon) while post-monsoon shows contrary results where most of the groundwater samples were under super-saturated condition. Additional of multivariate analyses of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Discriminant Analysis (DA) in present study can summarized the responsible factors controlling the groundwater evolution, which are the natural processes (ions exchanges process and saturation state of mineral) and human activities (over pumping which caused the up-coning of transition zone and simple mixing process). Meanwhile, the spatial variation was examined through the condition of groundwater in each monitoring boreholes using Hierarchy Cluster Analysis (HCA). There are two major groups which were classified as fresh groundwater (KW 3 and KW 4) and slightly affected/moderate condition of groundwater (KW 1, KW 2, KW 5 and KW 6). This classification was justified by the ionic strength calculation which reveals the same condition of groundwater in Pulau Kapas. The investigation of heavy metals concentration reveals the domination order of Sr > Fe > Mn > Al > Cr > Zn > Ni > As > Pb > Cu > Cd. None of these heavy metals exceeded the guidelines regulated by World Health Organization (2011) and Ministry Of Health (2012). Only Sr concentration was reported higher than permissible limits as this metal might abundance in the aquifer bedrock of study area. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) values shows a strong relationship with Ca concentrations, indicates the contribution of CaCO3 (aquifer bedrock) either by dissolution or precipitation state in determining the groundwater evolution. The structure and morphology of the sediment were explained by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) test. Aragonite which has the highest percentage with 68% was the dominant mineral due to the deposition of corals. The existence of this mineral was confirmed by the Scanning Electron Microscopy - Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) data where the major elements were carbonate minerals (CaCO3). This study recommends an illustration on the complex system of groundwater aquifer as to reveal the groundwater hydrochemistry status and chemical mechanisms as well as the fingerprint of groundwater evolution in small tropical islands and specifically, Pulau Kapas. This study also offers a better understanding on groundwater hydrochemistry as it’s provide continuous data for future guidelines especially in the developing pristine environment

Preliminary assessment on the hydrogeochemistry of Kapas Island, Terengganu (Penilaian awal hidro-kimia di Pulau Kapas, Terengganu)

Classified as a small island, Kapas Island experiences major problems especially in supplying freshwater where groundwater abstraction is the only way to meet the demand of drinking water and domestic use. Groundwater samples were collected from seven constructed boreholes to examine the hydrochemistry properties of major ions and in-situ parameters as these could provide a basis for future reference. The chemical composition showed strong and significant correlation for each studied parameter; an indication of the effect of environmental variables to the groundwater composition. The composition changed from Ca-rich to Na-rich are explained mostly by mixing and cation exchange processes. This study provided an input for water management at Kapas Island where groundwater is a crucial resource to maintain the hydrogeological balance of the island