KARON MAYOR SCRAMBLES TO COUNTER WASTEWATER PROBLEM
Karon Mayor Jadet Wicharasorn has announced a project to expand the capacity of the wastewater treatment facility at the Nong Harn Pond by 3,000 cubic metres of wastewater a day.
The announcement came last Saturday (Jan 20) during an inspection of the pond and the canal where excess water from the pond flows across Karon Beach and into the sea, where tourists swim.
The work to expand the wastewater treatment facility will begin in April, and is scheduled to be completed by April 2025, Mayor Jadet said.
Despite his push to increase the facility’s capacity to treat wastewater, Mayor Jadet remained adamant that the black water flowing from the pond and across the beach last week was not wastewater.
“It’s not wastewater. It’s sediment from the bottom of the canal. It does not affect the health of tourists, who can still play in the water and do water activities at the beach as usual,” he said.
Joining Mayor Jadet during his inspection of the pond and canal last Saturday was Sanan Rakdam, Director of Karon Municipality’s Engineering Division and Wastewater Treatment Office.
Mayor Jadet also called for reporters to join him during his inspection, during which he conducted water quality tests to prove the water was safe.
The water tested recorded a DO value (dissolved oxygen) of 3.38 parts per million (ppm), which Mayor Jadet said was considered “normal water”. The Pollution Control Department considers DO recordings of less than 2.0 to be wastewater, he said.
“Therefore, it is scientific evidence that the water in the area is normal water and does not appear to be spoiled,” he said, five days after disturbing images of black water flowing across the beach went viral on local social media channels.
Of note, Mayor Jadet last Friday explained through a post on Karon Municipality’s official Facebook page that to help resolve the problem the municipality had already: dredged the canal to help the water flow from the pond more quickly; installed an aerator “to increase the circulation of water to create air circulation, which prevents stagnant water from spoiling”; and installed a water pump to remove any overflowing water from the treatment pond.
Mayor Jadet last Saturday refuted accusations that he was complacent over the issue, which was accused of endangering tourists’ health.
“I’m not complacent. Executives and members of the Karon Municipality Council along with a team of technicians and related officials went to inspect the area and ordered the use of an excavator to dredge the canal,” he said.
“It was found that there was a large amount of black sediment in the canal. They also tested the water quality by collecting water samples. It was found that the water had no odour and did not affect the health of tourists,” he added.
“I can confirm that the water flowing into the sea is still of good...
...quality. It does not have an effect that causes tourists to itch or affect the skin. Tourists can still play in the water at the beach as usual and we have not received any complaints from tourists,” Mayor Jadet assured.
Oddly, Mayor Jadet added, “However, we are still working on solving problems, and I would like the government and related agencies to help support the budget to solve the problem in a sustainable way in order to build a positive tourism image,” he added.
Mr Sanan explained that the wastewater treatment facility at Nong Harn currently has the capacity to treat 14,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day.
“During the time of the incident, it was found that there was a lot of water from wastewater treatment plants. In addition, there was a sea surge causing a large amount of water to push up on the sandbar until it collapsed and a large mass of water carried the sediment and flowed into the sea, causing the black water,” Mr Sanan said.
By dredging the canal, officials had excavated the sediment from the canal and created a small barrier to prevent water carrying sediment from flowing directly onto the beach. The sediment is now trapped behind the barrier, and removed by excavator from there, he said.
Five such ‘sediment barriers’ have now been created along the canal, Mr Sanan explained.
“Karon Municipality has a longterm plan for hotel operators to bring their wastewater into the system. And in the future, we will make one more ‘Monkey Cheek’ [weir], which if done, will be able to solve the problem to a certain extent,” he added.
“However, what Karon Municipality needs is sustainable wastewater treatment. About 14,000 cubic metres of wastewater enters the system per day. After being treated, it should not be drained into the sea, but should be reused through a recycling system,”
Mr Sanan said.
“This will solve the problem sustainably and protect the environment,” he added.
MP’D ON
Phuket MP Chalermpong Saengdee inspected the tainted beach water in person last Friday (Jan 19), while black water was still flowing into the sea.
The water had a “fishy smell”, and the dark water stretched about 500 metres along the beachfront, Mr Chalermpong said.
The mouth of the canal at that time looked like it had been blocked with sand by a large machine, he added.
Mr Chalermpong said he believed that the black water was wastewater released from a hotel in Karon. At that time, “no agency has gone to verify it”, he said
“This is the [tourism] high season in Phuket province. It can be assumed that there is illegal wastewater discharge and overflow from municipal wastewater treatment plants. There is not enough capacity to support it [the volume of wastewater],” Mr Chalermpong said
“I would like to call on the relevant agencies to expedite a solution to the problem, especially the local agencies of the Pollution Control Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,” Mr Chalermpong urged.
Mr Chalermphong also noted that the problems with wastewater flowing into beach water in Phuket does not only occur at Karon Beach, but also at Kamala and Patong.
“Beaches with tourist industries and hotels often have this problem as well,” he said, adding that at a meeting of the House of Representatives he had previously called for a wastewater management system for all of Phuket so the island is worthy of being called a ‘world-class tourist city’. However, so far he has received no response.
“Please solve the problem, and let us not see pictures of wastewater flowing into the sea, or pictures of tourists having to wade through polluted water. It’s not a beautiful picture and not good for Thailand at all,” Mr Chalermpong said.
Phuket is the only province in Thailand that has an announcement from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment that determines measures to take care of the environment, he explained.
“The penalty is that if any hotel is found to release wastewater, they will be fined up to B1 million, but since this announcement I still have yet to see any serious investigation and arrests being carried out,” Mr Chalermpong said.