A water quality database for Brunei — The case of Bukit Barun and Layong

This project aims to generate a water quality database of Brunei Darussalam which previously did not exist. Data populated in the database consist of raw water analysis (Bukit Barun, Layong) and rainfall data from the years 2014 to 2016. The database structure was built and populated. To demonstrate the suitability of such database a correlation analysis of several water parameters i.e. pH, turbidity, colour unit, chloride, fluoride, aluminium and daily rainfall was performed. Previous studies have found that Brunei Darussalam soils are partly composed of acid sulphate soil, hence this database aids to investigate how acid sulphate soils can affect the water quality in Brunei. The highest positive correlation resulted from the turbidity-colour unit correlation (r=0.67), followed by turbidity-aluminium correlation (r=0.44). In contrast, notable negative correlations include pH-rain correlation (i=− 0.40), pH-Colour unit correlation (r=−0.39) and pH-aluminium correlation (r=−0.34). The result of the aluminium-pH correlation further indicates that leaching of aluminium and possible other toxic elements from the soils increases with the effect of low pH. The database will be a useful tool for future decision making and analysis for the country.