Water Crisis Hits 13,000 Rayong Families

[george]

Water crisis hits 13,000 Rayong families

RAYONG: -- Some 13,000 families in Rayong spent a fourth day without water yesterday as a result of the water-shortage crisis gripping the province.

The worst affected areas are Ban Chang and Map Ta Phut districts.

Wassana Song-anand, a villager in Map Ta Phut, said there had been no water since Sunday, forcing her to buy water for Bt10 a bucket.

“If this continues for another five days, I won’t be able to afford it. Industries grab all our water,” she said.

Ban Chang’s water authority said the crisis was due to a reduction in piped water from Eastern Water Resource Development and Management Plc (East Water).

The supply has dropped by half - from 20,000 to 10,000 cubic metres per day – said Somboon Yoocharoenphong, the authority’s director.

He said that as a result 8,500 families in Ban Chang would get water every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, while 4,500 families in Map Ta Phut would have water every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

East Water’s senior officer in Rayong claimed the company knew nothing about the problem, adding that it would never supply less water to the area on purpose.

“The crisis might be because the local water system is too small to handle the growing demand,” the official said.

--The Nation 2005-08-18

[awarrumbungle]

Blows me away - I thought we were living in the tropics!?

If only people had the money or cents to install some big f### off water tanks on their roofs or under their houses.

[billd766]

Blows me away - I thought we were living in the tropics!?

If only people had the money or cents to install some big f### off water tanks on their roofs or under their houses.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exactly

If only people had the money

Wassana Song-anand, a villager in Map Ta Phut, said there had been no water since Sunday, forcing her to buy water for Bt10 a bucket.

“If this continues for another five days, I won’t be able to afford it. Industries grab all our water,” she said.

A lot of people dont have the money to buy a big water tank on their roof or under their house.

My wife and I live about 400 km north of Bangkok and last year we got caught out and had to buy water so this year I installed 14,000 litres of water storage and I still had to buy water as there was a shortage for 3 or 4 weeks. It was not a problem as we can afford it but just think how much water you personally use in a day for washing, shaving, showering, cooking, washing up, using the toilet etc and then multiply it by 4 to use the same as a family. Figure that a bucket of water is a gallon and it weighs 5 kg and then multiply that by the number of gallons you use and that is how much you have to carry. Remember each gallon will cost you 10 baht and see how much that costs per day.

Then you can come back with a foolish remark such as you made above.

[sriracha john]

It was not a problem as we can afford it but just think how much water you personally use in a day for washing, shaving, showering, cooking, washing up, using the toilet etc and then multiply it by 4 to use the same as a family. Figure that a bucket of water is a gallon and it weighs 5 kg and then multiply that by the number of gallons you use and that is how much you have to carry. Remember each gallon will cost you 10 baht and see how much that costs per day.

Then you can come back with a foolish remark such as you made above.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The average household of four people uses about 243 gallons of water per day equals 1,215 Kg x 7 days = 4 and half tons per week...

[raro]

if they only woulf have told us in advance...yesterday morning, turn on the shower...nothing! Luckily still some pressure in the pipe, so downstairs the shower worked a bit.

First thing in the morning..bought some water tanks...

[george]

Rayong reservoir drying up

Water level drops below dead storage

RAYONG: -- The water level in the main reservoir in Rayong has dropped below dead storage, the level at which water should be kept to preserve the integrity of the reservoir, said Samart Chokkanapitark, director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department, yesterday.

As of yesterday, the Nong Pla Lai reservoir, which has the capacity to hold 164 million cubic metres of water, was left with only 11 million cu m, already 2 million cu m below its minimum requirement. Reservoirs need to maintain a certain level of water, the dead storage, to prevent damage to their structure.

Meanwhile, Dok Krai, its sister reservoir, has about 5.8 million cu m of water left, while its dead storage point is 3 million cu m.

Mr Samart admitted that the water level in the two reservoirs had never dropped to such a low level before.

He said about 480,000 cu m a day is needed to feed industries and create tap water for households in the region, but only about 250,000 cu m of water is flowing into the two reservoirs each day.

The department has been drawing about 150,000 cu m of water per day from the Rayong river and the Bang Phra reservoir in Chon Buri to help meet Rayong's needs.

``It's time we helped one another. Some industrial operators have developed their own reservoirs. They are also thinking of desalinising sea water,'' said Mr Samart.

The Eastern Seaboard, which is home to several industrial estates, has been facing water shortages for more than two months now, though the government is trying to fix the problem with capital spending projects.

The government has so far approved 13 short-term projects worth about 2.8 billion baht to tackle the crisis.

The projects include water diversion from other reservoirs and rivers. But some local people have opposed these plans, fearing environmental destruction and unfair distribution of water. Yesterday, the National Human Rights Commission added its voice to calls that the government suspend the planned water diversion schemes to ease water shortages in the Eastern Seaboard.

NRC chairman Saneh Chamarik said the schemes, strongly opposed by local residents, are mostly meant to satisfy the needs of the industrial sector.

Mr Saneh said the NRC wants the projects suspended because the Water Resources Department has assured that there would be no shortage of supplies until the end of the year.

Water shortages do not stem from drought, but from poor management and from urges to serve interests of a particular group, he said.

The government should conduct environmental impact studies and hold public hearings on water diversion projects, he said.

The NRC will make recommendations on new water management standards for future plans as the government is setting its sights on developing 25 river basins nationwide to prevent water shortages in future. The suggestions will be submitted to the government.

Mr Samart said the department would go ahead with the projects and also listen to what local people have to say.

Water levels in some reservoirs in the Northeast and the southern province of Phuket were also critically low, which could lead to severe water shortages.

There was now about 41,200 million cu m of water in about 30 major dams nationwide, 61% of the total capacity.

The department would also speed up its efforts to fill the country's largest dams, Bhumibol and Sirikit, by up to 80% of their storage capacity, or about 23,000 million cu m, after His Majesty the King had expressed concern that there might not be enough water for use in the dry season next year, Mr Samart said.

More artificial rain would be created and the department would be more strict in releasing water from those two dams for use from now on, he added.

--Bangkok Post 2005-08-20