Reviewing progress of water safety plans in Thailand | |
| Author | Patthamon Jeasakul |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-14-10 |
| Subject(s) | Water-supply--Thailand Drinking water--Thailand--Environmental aspects |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. EV-14-10 |
| Abstract | This study was conducted to review the progress of Water Safety Plans (WSP) in Thailand in terms of the WHO guidelines, collected primary data, interviews with responsible agency and various respondents, monitoring various types of water. It aimed to benchmark (a) efficiency of local ‘water safety plans’ operational in Thailand with a specific focus on the Pathum Thani water treatment plant and (b) to review public perception and awareness constraints and, as a result, to provide guidelines for a more efficient implementation of WSP in Thailand. WSP in Thailand were started in 2008 as 2 pilot scale projects, which were not successful. The main obstacles were a lack of actual understanding, lack of policies and clear targets, and paucity of funding to improve water supply system. Although, the goal of that time was just prevention of water quality deterioration and achievement of has suitable residual chlorine at end of pipe. Quality of raw water in the Prapa canal (providing one water treatment plant) is in accordance with Thai and international standards (pH 5.0-9.0), i.e. averaging 7.5 both in rainy and dry seasons. In addition, other parameters (turbidity, conductivity, and temperature) were also in the standard range for production of drinking water. Thus, it can be asserted that ‘local water safety plans’ in the first part of the drinking water production chain(safety of raw water ensured before water treatment) were fairly efficient. Quality of drinking water supply in AIT (2nd part of the drinking water production chain) was found to be in accordance with the standards, as confirmed by both physic-chemical and microbiological analyses. The results confirm that water supply distributed from Pathum Thani water treatment plant is efficient in terms of producing water supply. On the other hand, in terms of safe water distribution the amount of residual chlorine did not meet the standard of the Provincial water works authority (PWA) which was set at 0.2-0.5 mg/l. Thus, it was concluded that the local ‘water safety plans’ albeit relatively efficient, in yet to be improved. With regard to perception and acceptance of the local water supply quality by the Thai public (as probed through respondents in one of Bangkok’s districts, 280 respondents) it was concluded that most of respondents confirmed that they did not trust the tap water quality (82.5%), with only 17.5% acknowledging that they could drink the local tap water without further treatment (boiling, additional filtration). Respondents’ attitudes improved after receiving information about WHO’s Water Safety Plans: 53.2% of the respondents demonstrated increased confidence in the quality of water supply, while the remaining part did not change their attitude. |
| Year | 2014 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shipin, Oleg V.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Visvanathan, C. ;Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2014 |