Hydrogeological characterization of groundwater resources in Kathu District, Phuket

Abstract

Kathu is a densely populated and rapidly urbanizing district in Phuket City, Phuket Island in Thailand. Urban growth is accelerating demand for groundwater, with water scarcity expected to become a serious problem in the future. This study characterizes the subsurface hydrogeological conditions in Kathu to assess this groundwater problem situation. Groundwater data were collected from boreholes to better understand the historical context of variations in groundwater levels, along with the properties of aquifer, such as aquifer thickness, in the region. The Cooper-Jacob distance-drawdown method was used to estimate the transmissivity (T) and storativity (S) of each well, which was then mapped using a GIS overlay method to estimate groundwater potential. A close correlation between T and the specific capacity (SPC) of each well was observed with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.983. The highest T, S and groundwater potential were observed in Kathu sub-district in the eastern part of Kathu. The results for groundwater potential show good agreement with those of Charoenpong et al. (2012), whereas the present study is more detailed and accurate. Thus, the method used in this study has been verified as viable for reliably estimating groundwater potential.