Mitigation of peat fires utilizing groundwater supply

Abstract

Mitigating the peat fire disasters in Indonesia during the dry season for more than 20 years (1997-2017) have obstructed by the limited accessibility of surface water resources (including water canals and rivers). Hence, there was a need to seek another opportunity to have access for the water for mitigating the peat fires from local shallow aquifer water resources. Various pumping tests have been conducted to explore the potential and characteristics of the shallow aquifer water for mitigating the peat fires in Riau, Indonesia. The groundwater transmission and storage (storativity) were tested using pump tests. The Cooper Jacob (a straight line) method had been applied to analyze the field data. This study has yielded the following results; the water transmissivity (T) was 1145.98 m2/day, water storage (S) coefficient was 1.09 x 10-3, and the deep depth of the shallow aquifer water (from the ground surface) was approximately 10 meter. Hence, this research identified that the potential shallow aquifer water produced from every single well in the surveyed area in Riau may reach 433.4 m3/day. The amount of this water was considered more than enough to extinguish 4 ha of peat fire occurrences.