Spatial and seasonal variation in surface water quality of Nan river, Thailand

Main Article Content

wilawan khanitchaidecha

Abstract

The quality of Nan river which is an important surface water resource in Thailand was evaluated by using physico-chemical and biological parameters and together with the water quality index (WQI). The aim of this study was to understand the variation of water quality in accordance with locations (i.e. midstream and downstream) and seasons (i.e. wet and dry seasons) from 2012 to 2016, which is beneficial for water resource planning and management in the Lower Northern Thailand. The data of all 15 water parameters were collected from Pollution Control Department (PCD), Thailand. The data revealed that some parameters including turbidity, total solids (TS) and suspended solids (SS) were significantly affected from locations and seasons (r < 0.05); the larger values were observed in the downstream and wet season rather than the midstream and dry season. In the meanwhile, the nitrate (NO3-) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations was significantly affected from only locations; the higher concentrations were found in the downstream rather than the midstream. The average WQI values were 67.9 and 68.7 in wet and dry seasons respectively, which classified as a moderate quality. There was no spatial and seasonal variation in Nan river quality. In addition, the majority of sampling water (of 70%) was in Class 3 in accordance with the Thailand surface water quality standard. The results presented that the increasing agricultural and residential areas along the river did not affected on decreasing the water quality. The self-purification of Nan river was still effective, however the regular monitoring is still necessary for interpretation of water quality and management measures.

Article Details

How to Cite
khanitchaidecha, wilawan. (2019). Spatial and seasonal variation in surface water quality of Nan river, Thailand. Naresuan University Engineering Journal, 14(1), 1–10. Retrieved from https://ph01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/nuej/article/view/128485
Section
Research Paper

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