Water quality of hot spring in Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat Provinces

Abstract

          Hot springs are formed by hot groundwater seeping through cracks in rock layers rising from the ground. The water has specific properties according to the rock layers that the water seeps through. In the past year, 2016 it was found that the water quality from hot springs in Ranong province contained fluoride and microorganisms that did not meet the criteria. This study, The Regional of Medical Science Center 11 Surat Thani, aimed to determine the physical, chemical and microbiological properties of water from 30 ponds of hot springs in Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces in 2017 compared to groundwater standards that used for consumption. The results showed that water in Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces did not meet the physical and chemical criteria by 100, 100, 91 and 62 percent of total pond in each province, and 100, 78, 73 and 100 percent of total pond in each province did not meet the microbiological criteria, respectively. Furthermore, the fluoride concentration of hot springs in Ranong, Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces exceeded the threshold of 100, 73 and 62 percent of total pond in each province, respectively. Therefore, hot springs water should not be used as drinking water. Hence, the information obtained is useful in surveillance, water quality and manage the use of water from hot springs appropriately according to specific properties of each well.