Water quality modelling using QUAL2K at Likas River, Sabah

Jason Lowell Jitolis; Awang Nasrizal Awang Ali; Nurmin Bolong.

Assessing water quality through modeling has the advantage of simplifying the tedious and complicated on-field investigations while reducing potential on-site risks, costs, and time. A combination of manual observation and simulation can predict water quality along the river, as the computer program can instantly generate reliable data based on the desired parameters. This technique also facilitates the river's data collection management for the selected points along the monitored river for any time and duration required. This work utilized the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from geospatial and satellite maps for obtaining the hydraulic parameters. Then the cross-section of the river has been generated based on the elevation data. The study collected samples from the Likas River and was characterized in the civil engineering environmental laboratory. The represented water quality data from 22nd December 2019 to 22nd February 2020, during the critical dry season, were used as input in the QUAL2K program to predict the selected Likas River's water quality model. The study found that the Likas River is possibly affected by effluent discharges from both the point and non-point sources of pollution from nearby commercial or residential areas and exceeds the Class-III river's BOD properties. Recommendation on utilizing stormwater filtration as on-site prevention is also highlighted in this work.

KEYWORDS: Digital elevation model (DEM); QUAL2K; Water quality modelling; Likas River; Pollutants




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