Abstract

The study was aimed to study water quality treated by mangrove forest. This study has been conducted at the mangrove forest site of the King’s Royally Initiated Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project (the Royal LERD Project), Ban Laem District, Phetchaburi Province, Thailand. The study site, where Avicennia marina is dominant plant, is divided into in 3 areas; (A) the tideland area between constructed pond and mangrove forest, 200 meters from outlet (B) area of mangrove forest, distance 201 to 900 meters from outlet and (C) sea area, started from 901 meters from outlet. Six parameters were investigated; including temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), phosphate, nitrate, and ammonia. The results showed that water quality from mangrove forest met the effluent standards for coastal aquaculture (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 2004). Mangrove forest can be able to improve water quality by increasing DO by 32.39%, while reducing phosphate, ammonia, and nitrate by 88.23%, 73.77%, and 64.28% respectively. It can be used as an additional natural system to increase the efficiency of man-made wastewater treatment system.

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