Thailand's Drought: Time to conserve water is now

08 ธันวาคม 2558

People in & around Bangkok must find new ways to save water (water conservation) from now until May. Water shortages from the ongoing drought are a real possibility.

DROUGHT & WATER CONSERVATION

Drought spurs call for home water savings

8/12/2015
Apinya Wipatayotin

Households in and around Bangkok have been urged to store at least 60 litres of drinking water until May next year for possible water shortages.

If everyone takes steps to conserve water (water conservation), the impact of the drought and water shortage can be reduced.

SALT WATER INTRUSION

There has been a reduction of Chao Phraya River water available to be used due to a problem of salt water intrusion, said Thanasak Watanathana, the governor of the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA).

People living in the capital and nearby provinces, particularly Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan to which the MWA supplies tap water, should prepare to deal with possible water shortages during the drought season which lasts from now until May next year.

There will be less water to provide tap water to households living in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan provinces.

PREPARE CONTAINERS TO STORE 60 LITERS OF WATER

To limit the effects of possible shortages, people should prepare containers to keep at least 60 litres of water for consumption per household.

60 litres can be enough drinking water for about one week. But it is not enough for other uses.

"Reserving water should be standard practice for households to deal with the drought next year," Mr Thanasak said.

The Chao Phraya River will be at higher risk of salt water intrusion next year as water volumes released from dams will likely drop because of drought conditions. That will cause problems in tap water production.

Despite the reduced amount of water being released from dams, the MWA has assured the public that it would not stop supplying tap water to 12 million users, including various corporate and state organisations, in the three provinces (Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan).

Concerned about the lower amount of water available for tap water production, the MEA has reduced tap water pressure from 11pm-5am starting this month, reducing the water supply in that period.

If there is high intrusion of salt water, the MWA will cut Chao Phraya River water usage by 10%.

Tap water production will then decrease from 5.4 million cubic metres per day to 5 million cubic meters.

WATER CONSERVATION NEEDED

Mr Thanasak said the possible water shortage would not be severe if everyone concerned takes action to save water (water conservation).

According to the MWA, the average amount of water usage has currently been reduced to 219.5 litres per person per day from 223.5 litres per person per day.

From this month, the MWA will give refunds of 100-200 baht for each water user who reduced consumption by 10% during its water-saving campaign between August to September.

There are 428,819 users who will receive refunds worth a total of 43.7 million baht. The campaign saved 8.96 million cu/m of water.

WATER CONSERVATION IN CALIFORNIA IS GOOD EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW

Everyone who grew up in California (including the author) has had water conservation etched into their memory from a young age.

Recently, Californians managed to cut water usage by 31% after strict conservation measures were imposed by Governor Jerry Brown (see here, here & here).

Here are some common sense water conservation rules.

Don't let the water run when you are not using it, for example turn off the water while you brush your teeth or shave.

The little jingle used to decide when to flush a western style toilets runs:

"If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down"

But don't forget “a flush a day keeps the stink away” (see here).

When taking a shower, turn on the water for a moment to get yourself wet, then soap and scrub your body and get it clean. Finally, turn on the water again for a short time to rinse the soap off (see here).

Taking a bath rather than a shower would conserve even more water.

Learn about a variety of different ways to conserve water here and in the infographic below: