Assessment of water quality index of Puah Reservoir, Hulu Terengganu, Malaysia

Abstract

Puah dam is located 50 km from Bandar Gua Musang-Hulu Terengganu roadway, and about 65km west of Kuala Terengganu. Puah Reservoir is used for macro-hydro power plant (capacity 250MW). The purpose of this study was to determine the water quality status of the reservoir. Based on water quality index grading, the reservoir water has been classified as poor according to WHO WQI rating with a calculated range of 11.52-485.71. Although, the result for the mean WQI for all the stations/locations (48.04-154.36) revealed that the water is fit for drinking purpose through any form of treatment. However, it's relatively good for swimming, bathing, laundry, irrigation and industrial purposes. This condition showed that the activities of Tambat and Puah hydro-power generation had no negative effect on the water quality of upper and lower parts of Puah Reservoir respectively.