People urged to use tap water as polluted water comes to Bangkok
The Chao Phya River's polluted stretch of water, which killed tens of thousands of fish on Sunday night in Angthong and Ayutthaya, reached Greater Bangkok on Wednesday with authorities urging people to use tap water.
The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) spokesman Boonsanong Suchatpong said Wednesday the situation was "getting back to normal" in Angthong, Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani, which had dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in water above 3mg/l, which barely enabled river life to survive. When the polluted water from Angthong reached Ayutthaya on Tuesday, the governor declared Bang Ban, Bang Pain, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, and Bang Sai districts "disaster zones". The contaminated water arrived in Nonthaburi yesterday afternoon causing the DO levels in the Pak Kred district to drop to 2.93 mg/l and reached Bangkok last night. By then the water had been heavily diluted as the RID released more water from Pasak Cholasit and Rama VI dams at 90 cubic metres per second, said Boonsanong, who also urged city residents to use tap water instead of river water. Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) Governor Vithit Avuchanont said the MWA received calls from worried city residents and wanted to confirm that the low DO levels in the Chao Phya would not affect the MWA's capacity to produce clean tap water. The water at the Pathum Thani's Sam Lae water pump facility was of "good quality" with DO levels of 4.5 mg/l to 4.7 mg/l, he said, adding that as precaution, the MWA had temporarily closed the sluice gates and could still use water in the MWA waterways to produce enough tap water for people's needs. MWA deputy governor Wuttichai Rangsiyawatt also ordered the facility to turn on 12 oxygenproducing devices yesterday. Interior Minister Aree Wongsearaya will visit the MWA later yesterday to discuss ways to prevent polluted water getting into city canals and waterways. Angthong Governor Wiboon Sanguanphong met with Ayutthaya Governor Cherdphan na Songkhla, related officials and farmer representatives Wednesday morning to discuss ways to determine the source of the pollution believed to have come from either an industrial factory releasing wastewater or from a boat carrying sugar that sank over a week ago - and to assist the affected farmers. The Nation
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