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SEASONAL TIME LAPSE RESISTIVITY SURVEY FOR FRESHWATER

QUALITY EXPLORATION AT CAREY ISLAND, KLANG, SELANGOR.

MOHD KHAIRIL ANNAS BIN MAHAMAD

A thesis is submitted in
fulfillment of the requirement for the award of
Degree of Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Construction) with Honour

Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

MAY 2011
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I hereby declare that the work in this project report is my own except for quotations and
summaries which have been duly aknowledged.

Student : …………………………………………
MOHD KHAIRIL ANNAS BIN MAHAMAD

Date : ………………………………………..

Supervisor : ………………………………………..
DR. ADNAN ZAINORABIDIN
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To my loving mother, Maizanah bte Mohd Daud; father, Mahamad bin Abdullah and
siblings, Halimahton Saadiah; Fatimahton Zahrah; Mohd Azrul Aminur Rashid;
Maizaton Akhmam; Mohd Zulwali Kiflee and Mohd Zulwali Merawi.,

Thank you for your prayers, patience, understanding and being the ones who lift me up
everytime I fall down.

Also to my beloved friends, Mohd Hafiz Mohd Nasir, Shazni Afandi Ahmad Zaidi, Suhail
Shaari, Muhammad Ehsan Mohamad, Muhammad Asyraf Roslan and Nabilah Zayadi.

Who are always there when I need them.

Thanks for your support.

Last but not least, to my supervisor, Mohd Hazreek Zainal Abidin and Dr Adnan
Zainorabidin.

Thanks for your precious guideline.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project have been made possible by the guideline provided by my previous
supervisor En. Mohd Hazreek Zainal Abidin and my new supervisor Dr Adnan
Zainorabidin. The appreciation also go to the all parties involved in completing this
project especially to UTHM Geotechnical Laboratory and RECESS. My sincere
appreciation also extends to my family especially to my parents, Maizanah Mohd Daud
and Mahamad bin Abdullah with their understanding and support. Last but not least,
thanks to all my UTHM comrades especially to my best friends, Mohd Hafiz; Shazni
Afandi; Suhail Shaari; Muhammad Ehsan; Muhammad Asyraf and Nabilah Zayadi that
always cheers me up at my difficult time
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ABSTRACT

Groundwater is one of the main sources of freshwater. At Carey Island, the shortage of
freshwater happened regularly because of the limited source of freshwater. With the
rapid infrastructure growth and the population is expected to increase significantly, it is
necessary to find the potential of freshwater source for future consumption. But, the
fresh groundwater at the coastal area is mainly affected by the salinity change due to the
saltwater intrusion. This study is carried out to obtain relationship between resistivity
and freshwater quality and to investigate the effect of seasonal to the saltwater intrusion
by using the time lapse resistivity survey with the collaboration from the monitoring
well data. Wenner electrode configuration system is applied in the electrical resistivity
imaging and the resistivity is measured by ABEM Terrameter SAS4000 combined with
an ES10-64 electrode selector with 5 meter electrode spacing. The survey line is
conducted at one of the monitoring well that has been constructed by the past researcher
that has the high probability of the freshwater presence. 4 augerhole have been
constructed along the survey line. The resistivity data were used to obtain the 2D
electrical imaging by using the inversion of the Res2Dinv software and the
interpretation of the resistivity image is made with the collaboration with the monitoring
well and the augerhole data. Based on the correlation, 3 types of water is classified as
fresh (> 6.5Ω ݉), brackish (3 Ω ݉ -6.5Ω ݉), and saline (< 3Ω ݉). The location for
extracting the groundwater is identified by the collaboration of the two methods. These
results can be used to plan a strategy for the groundwater potential as a source of the
freshwater for the area.
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ABSTRAK

Air bawah tanah merupakan salah satu sumber utama air bersih. Di Pulau Carey,
kekurangan bekalan air bersih sering terjadi di sebabkan kurang nya bekalan sumber air
bersih. Dengan pembangunan infrastruktur dan populasi yang di jangkakan akan
meningkat, adalah menjadi satu keperluan bagi mencari potensi sumber air bersih bagi
kegunaan masa depan. Namun, bagi kawasan pesisiran pantai, system air bawah tanah
dicemari oleh perubahan tahap kemanisan di sebabkan oleh rejahan air masin. Oleh itu,
kajian ini di jalankan bagi mendapatkan hubung kait di antara nilai kerintangan dan juga
kualiti air tawar serta mengkaji kesan air pasang surut terhadap rejahan air masin dengan
menggunakan aplikasi pengukuran “Time Lapse Resistivity” yang akan di kolaborasi
kan dengan data telaga pengawasan. Konfigurasi elektrod Wenner telah diguna pakai
dalam kaedah kerintangan elektrik dan nilai kerintangan ini akan di ukur dengan
menggunakan alat ABEM Terrameter SAS4000 yang di gabung bersama pemilih
elektrod ES10-64. Jarak 5 meter di antara elektrod telah di gunakan. Garisan kajian akan
di lakukan di salah satu telaga pengawasan yang mempunyai kebarangkalian
mengandungi kandungan air tawar yang tinggi. Data kerintangan akan di gunakan untuk
mendapatkan imej elektrik 2D dengan menggunakan perisian Res2Dinv. Interpretasi
daripadi imej 2D ini akn di kolaborasikan dengan data daripada telaga pengawasan.
Berdasarkan kolerasi, 3 jenis air bawah tanah dapat di kelas kan sebagai tawar (>
6.5Ω ݉), payau (3 Ω ݉ -6.5Ω ݉) dan masin (< 3Ω ݉). Daripada kolerasi ini juga, lokasi
terbaik untuk mengekstrak air tawar ini dapat di kenal pasti. Hasil daripada kajian ini
dapat di gunakan sebagai pelan strategi mencari sumber air tawar di kawasan berkenaan.
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TABLE OF CONTENT

TITLE PAGE

TITLE i
DECLARATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
ABSTRACT v
ABSTRAK vi
TABLE OF CONTENT vii
LIST OF TABLE x
LIST OF FIGURE xi
LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS xv
LIST OF APPENDIX xvi

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background 1
1.2 Problem Statement 3
1.3 Objective of study 4
1.4 Scope of study 4
1.5 Significant of study 5
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CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction 6
2.2 Site Investigation 8
2.2.1 Stages of Site Investigation 9
2.3 Conventional Method 11
2.3.1 Test Pits and Trenches 11
2.3.2 Auger Boring 12
2.3.3 Wash Boring 14
2.4 Geophysical Method 16
2.4.1 Resistivity Method 19
2.4.2 Line Array for Resistivity Survey 21
2.4.2.1 Wenner Array 21
2.4.3 The Relationship between Geology
and Resistivity 23
2.5 Hydrological 28
2.5.1 Aquifer 30
2.5.2 Seawater Intrusion 31
2.6 Case Study 33
2.6.1 Resistivity imaging and borehole
investigation of the Banting area
aquifer, Selangor, Malaysia 34
2.6.2 Salt-water intrusion mapping by
geoelectrical imaging surveys 35

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction 36
3.2 Flow Chart 38
3.3 Area Study 39
3.4 Augerholes Drilling Operation 40
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3.5 Borehole Drilling Operation 44

3.6 Resistivity Survey 46
3.6.1 Resistivity equipment 47
3.6.2 Field Procedure 49
3.6.3 Method of Taking Data from ABEM
Terrameter SAS 4000 51
3.6.4 Processing the 2D Electrical Resistivity
Image. 51

CHAPTER IV RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction 59
4.2 Geological map 61
4.3 Borehole result
4.3.1 Subsurface profile result 62
4.3.2 Total dissolved solid measuremenr result 68
4.4 Resistivity result
4.4.1 Clean sand resistivity result 72
4.4.2 Time lapse resistivity result 74
4.5 Discussion 83

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND RECOMENDATION

5.0 Introduction 85
5.1 Conclusion 85
5.2 Recommendation 89

REFFERENCES 90

APPENDICES -
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LIST OF TABLES

NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 Geophysics exploration method (Kearey; 2002) 17

2.2 Geophysical surveying application (Kearey, 2002) 18
2.3 Resistivities of some common rocks, minerals
and chemicals (Loke 1999) 24
2.4 The resistivity of various type of water
(Telford, 1976) 25
2.5 Total dissolved solid type of water ( Fetter, 2005) 33
3.1 Resistivity equipment 48
4.1 TDS data for 23 December 69
4.2 TDS data for 30 December 70
4.3 TDS data for 31 December 71
4.4 Resistivity value for three type of water 72
4.5 Resistivity’s of clean sand with different
concentration of TDS 73
4.6 Comparison of the result 83
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LIST OF FIGURES

NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 Removing sample from auger 13

2.2 Pipe (casing) installation 14
2.3 Wash boring process 15
2.4 Common arrays used in resistivity surveys
and their geometric factors. (Loke, 1999). 20
2.5(a) Wenner Array 22
2.5(b) Sensitivity plot for Wenner Array 22
2.6 Variation of water resistivity with concentration
of salt (Milsom, 2002) 25
2.7 Resistivity of common rocks (Kearey, 2002) 26
2.8 Resistivity from which water sample were taken
(Rahn, 1986) 26
2.9 Typical earth resistivity value for selected geologic
material (West, 1995) 27
2.10 Hydrology Cycle. (Brassington, 2006) 29
2.11 Underground Aquifer. (Brassington, 2006) 31
2.12 Saltwater-freshwater interface 32
2.13 Resistivity imaging of Banting aquifer 34
2.14 Salinity mapping at Yan, Kedah 35
3.1 The methodology adopted for this study 38
3.2 Location of the study area (Google Map, 2010) 39
3.3 Illustration of the augerhole position 40
3.4 Motorized auger 41
3.5 Removing sample 42
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3.6 ES300 YSI equipment 43

3.7 Taking measurement from the augerhole. 43
3.8 Rotary wash boring 45
3.9 Prepare casing 45
3.10 Casing driven into the hole 46
3.11 Survey line and distance from sea 47
3.12 Resistivity equipment 48
3.13 Arrangement of the equipment ` 50
3.14 ABEM Terrameter SAS4000 50
3.15 Import data from Terrameter 52
3.16 Res2Dinv main menu 53
3.17 Read data file 54
3.18 Choose DAT file from directory 55
3.19 The description of the data 56
3.20 Choose the least-square inversion. 57
3.21 2D electrical imaging 58
4.1 The geology of the study area. (JMG, 1985) 61
4.2 Illustration of the monitoring well and augerhole
position 62
4.3 Borelog for MW12 63
4.4(a) AH1 64
4.4(b) AH2 65
4.4(c) AH3 65
4.4(d) AH4 66
4.4(e) AH5 66
4.4(f) AH6 67
4.5 Graph TDS versus tide level for 23 December 69
4.6 Graph TDS versus tide level for 30 December 70
4.7 Graph TDS versus tide level for 31 December 71
4.8 TDS versus resistivity for clean sand experiment. 73
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4.9 MW12 1st-series resistivity image at 1.00pm-

2.00pm, 23 December 2010; tide-levels -3 c m
(1.00pm), -2 cm (2.00pm) 74
nd
4.10 MW12 2 -series resistivity image at 2.00pm-
3.00pm, 23 December 2010; tide-levels -2 cm
(2.00pm), 215cm (3.00pm) 75
rd
4.11 MW12 3 -series resistivity image at 3.00pm-
4.00pm, 23 December 2010; tide-levels 215 cm
(3.00pm), 319cm (3.00pm) 75
4.12 MW12 4th -series resistivity image at 4.00pm-
5.00pm, 23 December 2010; tide-levels 319 cm
(4.00pm), 379cm (5.00pm) 76
4.13 MW12 5th -series resistivity image at 5.00pm-
6.00pm, 23 December 2010; tide-levels 379 cm
(5.00pm), 408cm (6.00pm) 76
4.14 MW12 resistivity change percentages at 1.00pm-
6.00pm, 23 December 2010; tide-levels -3 cm
(1.00pm), 408cm (6.00pm) 71
4.15 MW12 1st-series resistivity image at 1.00pm-
2.00pm, 30 December 2010; tide-levels 288 cm
(1.00pm), 279 mm (2.00pm). 77
4.16 MW12 2nd -series resistivity image at 2.00pm-
3.00pm, 30 December 2010; tide-levels 279 cm
(2.00pm), 253 cm (3.00pm) 78
4.17 MW12 3rd -series resistivity image at 3.00pm-
4.00pm, 30 December 2010; tide-levels 253 cm
(3.00pm), 215 cm (3.00pm) 78
th
4.18 MW12 4 -series resistivity image at 4.00pm-
5.00pm, 30 December 2010; tide-levels 215 cm
(4.00pm), 172 cm (5.00pm). 78
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4.19 MW12 5th -series resistivity image at 5.00pm-

6.00pm, 30 December 2010; tide-levels 172 mm
(5.00pm), 126 cm (6.00pm). 79
4.20 MW12 resistivity change percentages at 1.00pm-
6.00pm, 30 December 2010; tide-levels 288 cm
(1.00pm), 126 cm (6.00pm) 79
st
4.21 Line B 1 -series resistivity image at 9.00am-
10.00am, 31 December 2010; tide-levels 108 cm
(9.00am), 131 cm (10.00am). 80
4.22 Line B 2nd-series resistivity image at 10.00am-
11.00am, 31 December 2010; tide-levels 131 cm
(10.00am), 178 cm (11.00am) 81
4.23 Line B 3rd-series resistivity image at 11.00am-
12.00pm, 31 December 2010; tide-levels 178 cm
(11.00am), 231 cm (12.00pm). 81
4.24 Line B 4th-series resistivity image at 12.00pm-
1.00pm, 31 December 2010; tide-levels 231 cm
(12.00pm), 273 cm (1.00pm). 81
4.25 Line B 5th-series resistivity image at 1.00pm-
2.00pm, 31 December 2010; tide-levels 273 cm
(1.00pm), 296 cm (2.00pm). 82
4.26 Line B resistivity change percentages at 9.00am-
2.00pm, 31 December 2010; tide-levels 108 cm
(9.00am), 296 cm (2.00pm). 82
5.1 Proposed location for extracting groundwater 87
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LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Ω݉ - Ohm.meter
AH - Augerhole
cm - Centimeter
m - Meter
TDS - Total dissolved solid
UTHM - Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
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LIST OF APPENDICES

NO. TITLE PAGE

A MW12 Boreleg Sheet 89

B Peninsular Malaysia geological map 95
C Site Work Picture 97
D Poster 108