Dr Surasee concluded his two-day visit to the island yesterday (Sept 5) with an inspection tour, and a promise that action will be taken to meet Phuket’s water management needs, including resolving recurring flooding issues and coping with water shortages during any droughts in the future.
Dr Surasee conducted an inspection of the Patong Municipality Wastewater Treatment plant, where Patong Deputy Mayor Sanakorn Keesin explained that the plant had been expanded from its capacity to treat 2,250 cubic metres of wastewater per day when it opened in 1989. The plant today, now covering nine square kilometres, can treat up to 39,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day.
Further expansion would require a high budget, Deputy Mayor Sanakorn said.
“Currently it is a water quality improvement plant. Therefore, it is necessary to gradually expand and construct a wastewater collection system, along with other developments and taking steps to solve the problem of water shortages, by using treated water to produce RO water [water purified by reverse osmosis] to be distributed to the public and establishments in the Patong area,” Deputy Mayor Sanakorn said.
However, none of the many official reports of Dr Surasee’s visit yesterday confirmed exactly how much wastewater is generated in Patong, and needs treatment, each day before being released into local waters.
Dr Surasee yesterday saw firsthand dark untreated wastewater flowing into the Pak Bang Canal, which runs through the heart of Patong and empties into the estuary at the southern end of the town. The estuary then empties into Patong Bay, where Dr Surasi yesterday saw tourists playing in the water, despite the inclement weather.
According to official reports, Dr Surasee said that the ‘water quality improvement plant’ in Patong showed positive signs and could be used as a model for elsewhere.
“There is good management. It is considered one of the prototype areas that can be used to expand the results to related agencies in resource management because Patong Beach is an important tourist attraction in Phuket and Thailand. Each year there is rapid growth. This causes the problem of water pollution degradation,” he said.
Much of the blame for Phuket’s water woes, including floods and droughts, was attributed to rapid urban expansion and the high volume of tourists that visit the island each year.
“Phuket is an important province in terms of tourism and is part of the country’s economic stimulus plan. But with the condition of the area and the potential of water resources at present, there is still a problem of water shortage every year,” he said.
“There is an average annual water shortage in all aspects totaling 25.54 million cubic metres. There is also a problem of flooding, caused by most of the canals. The water overflows the banks due to the geographical conditions in some periods that are bottlenecks, resulting in less drainage until the water accumulates over the banks. This includes obstacles to the water flowing to the sea. These are all factors that cause flooding in the area on a regular basis,” he added.
“In addition, Phuket is a destination for both Thai and foreign tourists. Many tourists travel here a lot, causing the rate of urban expansion of Phuket to increase steadily, and extending into the farmland in upstream areas.
“As a result, the forest area has decreased. It was found that Srisoonthorn district had the highest soil loss severity of 2,082 tonnes per year, followed by Tambon Kathu with an average soil loss severity of 2,015 tonnes per year,” Dr Surisee said.
“More importantly, water quality problems still exist. Most wastewater comes from community sources and service places, with a total amount of wastewater generated at 149,917 cubic metres per day, while the community wastewater treatment system in Phuket can handle only 94,961 cubic meters of wastewater per day,” he added.
The difference leaves a total of 54,956 cubic metres of wastewater that goes untreated in Phuket each day.
“In order to achieve the solution of water resources in the Phuket area, there needs to be systematic integration at upstream, midstream and downstream levels,” Dr Surisee said.
“The ONWR has initiated a project to study an integrated master plan for flood and drought mitigation in specific areas for Phuket according to the integrated water management approach of the 20-year water resource management master plan,” he added.
“If the project is completed, it will increase the amount of water made available for use by peple in Phuket to approximately 60.53 million cubic metres a year. The wastewater treatment capacity will be increased to 4.96 million cubic metres per year,” Dr Surisee said.
During his visit, Dr Surisee also inspected the weir built at the top of the Kathu Waterfall, and heard water conservation measures, such as having water meters installed to regulate showers.
“We are hoping to reduce the amount of water used. This method has already worked in other countries,” he said.
Regardless of Phuket’s current water management capabilities, Dr Surisee assured that the government was ready and that “the El Niño situation will not affect Phuket”.