The alarm was raised as the water in the lake became increasingly darker last Friday (June 28), with some local residents concerned that the water was changing colour due to the wastewater-treatment plant recently built at the eastern end of the lagoon.
However, Mayor Arron assured today (July 1) that the wastewater-treatment plant played no part in the water changing colour.
“There is nothing to worry about. It is not wastewater,” Rawai Mayor Aroon said.
“The water has changed colour for natural reasons. There has been several days of heavy rain in the area, and runoff has flown into the nearby canals, which empty into the lake,” he explained.
“In addition to this, the strong wind and waves over the past week has seen the channel to the sea being blocked by sand,” he added.
“This together has led to the water changing colour because it has had nowhere to flow out of the lagoon, but workers will tonight excavate the channel to allow the water to flow across the beach and into the sea,” Mayor Aroon said.
“We will do this at nighttime because of we don’t want to create a disturbance during the daytime, and tonight will be the high tide,” he said.
“It is not wastewater and it is not water from wastewater-treatment plant. The water in the lake is natural water. It is brackish water and supports life in the form of small fishes and marine animals.” he added.
The wastewater-treatment plant at Nai Harn was built under B35.3-million government contract offered by the Wastewater Management Authority (WMA), which operates under Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE).
Construction, carried out by D.B.T. Engineering Co Ltd and MCON International Corp, saw Western-standard “FBR water-treatment system” – also known as an “Fluidized” or “Flotation” Bed Reactor – installed.
In explaining the plant when the project was launched in December 2017, WMA engineer Natthawoot Pantupan told The Phuket News, “This system will treat wastewater until it reaches the standard of Pollution Control Department. After that, the municipality can reuse water or release it into the lake.” (See story here.)