A study of drinking water quality in Kota Bharu, Kelantan: a special concern on fluoride content
Fluoride content in drinking water is important for oral health. Appropriate intake of it can help to minimize dental carries (tooth decay) whereas excess of it can lead to other health problems such as dental fluorosis and impaired development of central nervous system (CNS) especially among chi...
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| Format: | Monograph |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universiti Sains Malaysia
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.usm.my/60312/1/NUR%20SHAZLINA%20BINTI%20MUHAMMAD%20-%20e.pdf http://eprints.usm.my/60312/ |
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| Summary: | Fluoride content in drinking water is important for oral health. Appropriate intake of
it can help to minimize dental carries (tooth decay) whereas excess of it can lead to
other health problems such as dental fluorosis and impaired development of central
nervous system (CNS) especially among children. In relation to the fluoride, other
main parameters also being measured in order to investigate the relationship that
might be present among them. This study was aimed to investigate the level of
fluoride content in five water treatment plants (WTP) in district of Kota Bharu,
Kelantan. It also aimed to determine the concentration of fluoride content in raw and
treated water samples from both surface water and groundwater sources,
respectively. In all WTP stations, two sampling points were chosen which are at raw
and treated water points. For in-situ analysis, the parameters involved were pH,
temperature, free-chlorine and turbidity whereas for ex-situ analysis, the parameters
involved were fluoride and ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N). All water samples were
taken three times in a week for eight weeks. The result obtained was then compared
with standard value of drinking water from Ministry of Health, Malaysia (MOH). All
the data entry, analysis, and interpretation were done by using Microsoft Office
Excel. All bar charts and linear regression was performed using Microsoft Office
Excel where coefficient of determination value (R2) was used to measure the
regression line that help to determine the closeness of relationship present between
variables. Based on bar charts trend and R2 values, it was found that all measured
parameters did not influence the fluoride content in water samples. However, the
increase of fluoride level after the water being treated was due to other chemicals
such as Calcium Hydroxide and Sodium Carbonate that used for pH fixing purpose
was detected. Groundwater was noted the higher level of fluoride compared to
surface water. However, all the fluoride level was not even reach the minimum
requirement set by MOH which it should be between 0.4 to 0.6 mg/L. For raw water
samples, the highest R2 values were recorded in three out of five WTP stations for
the same parameters of NH3-N against pH. This supported that there was a
relationship present between parameters of NH3-N against pH. For treated water
samples, two stations recorded the R2 values more that 50% which are for the
parameters of temperature against free chlorine and NH3-N against fluoride.
However other station shows lower R2 values for those parameters which it cannot
support the present of relationship between the parameters. Thus, further study is
needed to improve and support the findings. The usage of treated water was
recommended in ensuring the safety of public drinking water and fluoridation
process also highly recommended to be done as parts of treatment process in all
WTP stations as natural occurrence of fluoride still not enough to reach minimum
standard of 0.40 mg/L for public drinking water. |
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