Khamaruzaman Wan Yusof

A GIS-based water quality model for sustainable tourism planning of Bertam River in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

AbstractCameron Highlands is experiencing rapid development as a popular tourist destination in Malaysia. This causes a rapid boost in construction and other tourism-related activities, such as the growth of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Due to that, the water quality of rivers in the highlands has been adversely affected. In this study, Bertam River, as one of the main streams in Cameron Highlands, was monitored to assess its suitability for recreational activities and conservation. Seven sampling points were selected in the river and tributaries: dissolved oxygen, biochemical and chemical oxygen demands (BOD and COD), total suspended solids (TSS), ammonia nitrate (NH3–N) and pH were measured and the water quality index (WQI) was computed during high and average water flow. In addition, water quality surface data were generated from the sampling points using the interpolation technique of geographic information system to predict values of unknown locations. Results show that TSS, BOD and NH3–N contribute most to the pollution of the waters. This is due to earthworks in the highlands as well as poorly treated sewage discharges from hotels, rest houses and apartments. WQI results indicate that Bertam River and its tributaries are classified as class II, III and IV, which require extensive treatment before utilization in most of the locations. Consequently, to improve the water quality of the rivers, recommendations have been made to ensure that some sampling points with potentials for recreational activities attain class II and subsequently class I in the near future.

A spatial decision support system (SDSS) for sustainable tourism planning in Johor Ramsar sites, Malaysia

The need for a sustainable approach in tourism development is very often addressed among the academia, the authorities and the stakeholders, as well as the apparent need for tools, which will guide the decision environment in evaluation and planning. This research aims to identify conservation and compatible areas for tourism development in Johor Ramsar sites, using spatial modeling in geographic information system (GIS). The study describes a methodological approach based on the integrated use of GIS and multi criteria decision evaluation (MCE) to identify nature conservation and development priorities among the wetland areas. A set of criteria was defined to evaluate wetland biodiversity conservation and development. Having defined the criteria, the next step was selecting suitable indicators and variables to measure the selected criteria. Subsequently the criteria were evaluated from conservation and tourism development point of view. These criteria were then weighted using the pair wise comparison technique of MCE and the results were integrated into GIS. Several conservation scenarios were generated so as to simulate different evaluation perspectives. The scenarios were then compared to highlight the most feasible and to propose a conservation and development strategy for the wetland areas. The generation and comparison of conservation and development scenarios highlighted the critical issues of the decision problem. This study represents an important contribution to effective decision-making because it allows one to gradually narrow down a problem.

Drought Analysis and Water Resources Management Inspection in Euphrates–Tigris Basin

Growing population, increasing basin development, and progressively declining water supplies are typical water resources issues in the Middle East. Drought is one of the most damaging climate‐related hazards that affect more people than any other. For identify‐ ing drought‐prone areas in the Euphrates–Tigris Basin, multifold aspects of drought and its features such as the frequency of drought occurrence and its spatial distribution were assessed. The long‐term precipitation data were collected from different meteorological stations of Turkey and Iran, and standard precipitation index (SPI) was calculated. Due to the lack of raw data, the literature works on drought were used in Syria and Iraq to obtain a drought perception in these countries. Moreover, the policy of water resources management and the hydraulic works in these regions were considered. The results show significant changes in the precipitation in these regions over the past decades. The projects undertaken in the basin are not in line with the principles of integrated water resources management and intensify the drought and caused marshland demise in the down‐ stream of the basin. The results of a comprehensive analysis of precipitation variation and water management in this research can alter the policy of water resources management in order to avoid drought in the basin.

NOVEL CONFIGURATIONS OF SOLAR DISTILLATION SYSTEM FOR POTABLE WATER PRODUCTION

More and more surface water are polluted with toxic chemicals. Alternatively brackish and saline water are used as feed water to water treatment plants. Expensive desalination process via reverse osmosis or distillation is used in the plants. Thus, this conventional desalination is not suitable for low and medium income countries. A cheaper method is by solar distillation. However the rate of water production by this method is generally considered low. This research attempts to enhance water production of solar distillation by optimizing solar capture, evaporation and condensation processes. Solar radiation data was captured in several days in Perak, Malaysia. Three kinds of experiments were done by fabricating triangular solar distillation systems. First type was conventional solar still, second type was combined with 50 Watt solar photovoltaic panel and 40 Watt Dc heater, while third type was integrated with 12 Volt Solar battery and 40 Watt Dc heater. The present investigation showed that the productivity of second and third systems were 150% and 480% of the conventional still type, respectively. The finding of this research can be expected to have wide application in water supply particularly in areas where fresh surface water is limited.

Experimental Investigation on the Performance of Four Types of Solar Stills in Malaysia

This study aims at improving a solar distillation still by comparing the performance of four types of double slope single basin solar stills to produce adequate amount of potable water in the areas with confined fresh water. These solar stills fabricated with similar shapes. In each solar still a stainless steel basin with the length of 50 cm, width of 30 cm and depth of 8 cm was utilized. The still configurations differed based on inclusion of 2 cm depth of sea sand layer in the basin, a layer of black paint in the basin and use of a 50 W PV-DC heater. The study was conducted to increase the potable water production under Malaysia tropical condition. A comparative research of cumulative water production among these solar stills showed that solar still with black painted basin was the more efficient; producing 234 %, 190% and 148% the potable water produced by a conventional solar still, solar still with sand layer in basin and solar still connected to a PV-DC heater, respectively.

Close-range photogrammetric data for landslide monitoring on slope area

Malaysia has seen at least 40 cases of landslide due to slopes failures from 1961 to 2008 which have claimed at least 128 lives. This emphasizes the importance of monitoring such slopes for safety and maintenance purposes. However the monitoring of them could be both expensive and dangerous. Therefore this study provides alternative of monitoring the slope using a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived from close-range photogrammetric data. Mass movement on the slope area can be detected by comparison of DEMs derived from two or more epochs data. In this study the DEMs were generated from stereo photographs captured from two different times (13/05/2007 and 07/04/2008). This method used commercial pocket camera for its data capture, thus indicates its low cost and its suitability for monitoring inaccessible and risky areas remotely. Restitution of stereo model is performed by involving Ground Control Points (GCP) to yield camera parameters, positions and orientations of each photo. Having these parameters, positions of all sampling points on stereo photos can be transformed into ground coordinate system. Terrain data sampling points in this research were performed by regular sampling methods. To measure the quality of the generated DEM, they were compared with a set of data measured by reflector-less Total Station (TS). The result yield DEMs with centimeters accuracy in elevation and less than 0.5 % in volume difference. The result shows that for the period of one year there were significant terrain changes on ground surface. It was indicated by distribution of gain and loss areas on the slope, and extreme changes in longitudinal and cross sections profiling.

Mapping of regional potential groundwater springs using Logistic Regression statistical method

Increasing demand for fresh water extraction in the semi-arid regions necessitates the exploration of groundwater spring potential areas notwithstanding the importance of both conservation and management aspects for planning development. Potential map of groundwater springs reduces the costs of horizontal well drilling that provides useful tool for engineers to locate probable region for groundwater existence. The objective of this study is to establish a model of the potential map of groundwater spring occurrences. A statistical and probabilistic Logistic Regression (LR) model was developed in association with the specified spring location and effective occurrence factors. The most statistically significant effective factors on spring occurrences were selected to zone groundwater spring potential areas. The proposed model was evaluated statistically. Results showed a satisfactory prediction for the proposed model. The outcome of this study facilitates the low-cost utilization of groundwater resources when policy makers need strategic development planning.

EVALUATION OF RAINFALL-RUNOFF EROSIVITY FACTOR FOR CAMERON HIGHLAND, PAHANG, MALAYSIA

Soil is one of the vital components of the natural environment that is non-renewable on a human time-scale [communication from commission to the council, 2006]. Soil erosion by water or wind has been a global threat posing significant challenges in terms of land degradation and desertification [Valentin et al., 2005], aquatic imbalance and deterioration of water quality in rivers and reservoirs. Most soils are exposed to erosion through poor agricultural practices, indiscriminate deforestation, overgrazing, forest fires hazard, land slide, construction and mining activities among others. Soil erosion has both onand off-site impacts on land and water resources. On-site impact can be degradation of soil quality due to immediate loss of its upper layer [Bakker et al., 2004], while off-site impacts resulted in increased water turbidity and pollutants, flooding, reduced crop yield, poor water quality, loss of reservoir and river capacity, which may lead to significant economic issues and environmental degradation [Quinton et al., 2001; Haygarth, 2005; Delmas et al. 2012, Oh and Jung, 2005]. In the recent past, several techniques or models have been developed and utilized to assess soil erosion by water. These models are broadly clasEVALUATION OF RAINFALL-RUNOFF EROSIVITY FACTOR FOR CAMERON HIGHLANDS, PAHANG, MALAYSIA

Water Quality Assessment of Ex-Mining Lakes in Perak, Malaysia as Alternative Source of Water Supply

This study investigated the water quality of some of the ex-mining lakes in Perak State of Malaysia for possible use as alternative to water supply and compared them to water quality of some of the rivers used for intake of water treatment. A total of twelve (12) water samples were collected for analyses from selected sampling sites. These samples were analyzed for physico-chemical properties, heavy metals concentrations, and organic pollutants concentrations. The analyzed results indicated that average temperature varied from 28.1 oC to 34.1 oC, pH 6.2 to 9.0, EC 55 to 400 μs/cm ,turbidity 5.6 to 74.2 NTU, DO 3.21 to 9.56 mg/l, TDS 36.8 to 268 mg/l, F- 0.017 to 0.182 mg/l, Cl- 0.483 to 3.339 mg/l, Br- 0 to 0.392 mg/l, SO42- 0.051 to 15.307 mg/l, Mg 0.833 to 1.466 mg/l, Na 0.669 to 3.668 mg/l, and Ca 2.85 to 26.77 mg/l. Heavy metals concentrations (mg/l) were: Zn 0.04 to 0.057, Pb 0.019 to 0.075, Cd not detected, Ni 0.013 to 0.105, As not detected to 0.004, and Cu not detected while COD 4 to 51 mg/l. Analyses revealed that all the water samples were turbid and containing slightly high concentration of Pb. Generally, they had common water quality problem. Further work should carry out more tests on other water quality parameters particularly on heavy metals, chemical and biological pollutants at different seasons.

Application of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytic Network Process (ANP) for Sustainable Tourism Planning in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

This paper discusses an approach based on an integrated use of GIS and ANP for sustainable tourism planning of Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. ANP was utilized to evaluate the relative priorities for the sustainable tourism development of the highland based on chosen criteria and indicators (elements). Pair wise comparison technique was used in order to evaluate possible alternatives from different perspectives. Having derived the weights from the pairwise comparison method, unweighted supermatrix, weighted supermatrix and the limit supermatrix were then computed. The limit supermatrix was normalized to derive the priorities; the result was then transferred into GIS framework. Elements evaluated and ranked are represented by criterion maps. The criterion maps were evaluated by reclassifying the data layers, to represent different needs for the sustainable tourism development of the highland. Spatial models reflecting the views of experts involved were aggregated using the weighted sum method of GIS. Subsequently sustainable tourism development model was generated, which will ensure that future generations benefit from the natural endowments of Cameron Highlands.