The mayor of Hua Hin Mr. Nopporn Wutthikul, along with the deputy mayor Mr. Montree Chuphu, Municipal Council member Mr. Cheep Suksee, the director of the Municipality’s Water Work Division Mr. Prayuth Yeunnuwong and municipal staff, have visited a new water treatment plant and reservoirs in Hua Hin to monitor recent water problems.
The reason for the visit was to follow up from complaints made through social media and to the press in Bangkok by residents of Ban Takiab, Nong Kae and Khao Phithak that the tap water was not clean enough and looked murky. Upon the visit to Pranburi Dam, Khao Laeng and Khong Hua Na reservoirs, the municipal officers found that the amount of water in the dam was less than the last time with only 130 million cubic metres of water being stored. In addition, water released was murky and has some weed and algae. At the Khao Laeng reservoir and water plant, the amount of water for the filtering process was normal. However, some processed water released was murky because of sediment remaining in the water pipe.
After the visiting the plant, the municipal staff and executives went to a nearby site where a water pipe is being installed with a budget of 900 million THB. The pipe will be able to send more water for consumption to Hua Hin, beginning in 2019. Finally, the municipal staff and executives visited water filtering plants in Hua Na, Khao Laeng and Rai Nun to study the possibility of improving the existing water plants. The Hua Hin Municipality has another project to construct a new water plant in Boh Fai to solve water shortage problems in the long term.
The Hua Hin Mayor, Director of the Waterworks Division and the Manager of Pranburi Provincial waterworks Authority also conducted a press conference and presented preliminary conclusions. He stated that the filtering system at Pranburi Dam still had problems and water pipes are old. Municipal officers are now working hard to solve this problem. Mr. Nopporn also talked about water problems in Nong Phai Community where farmers burned some crops and accidentally damaged a 120 metre HDPE (high-density polyethylene) water pipe. After fixing the pipe, some sediment may remained in the pipe and then found in the water. The Hua Hin Mayor also spoke about new HDPE water pipes were being installed in many areas. As the pipes are replaced cleaner water will become available for consumption.
In terms of water development in Boh Fai, the Hua Hin Mayor and Prachuab Khirikhan Governor have formulated a plan to transfer water directly from Phetchaburi Dam to a water filtering plant by the Khok Ma valley. The Royal Irrigation Department will work with Phetchaburi Dam to launch closedwater system with budget of 994 million THB. This project will be completed in 2019 and local people living in the upper area from Phetchaburi Dam can have sufficient water for consumption. Mr. Nopporn also added that, if murky water is found in any areas of Hua Hin, it is more effective to inform either the Mayor or the officers of Waterworks Division than by posting complaints on Facebook or Line. He also asked the Waterworks Division to develop both short and long term plans to solve water problems in Hua Hin sustainably and propose them to the municipal executives for further consideration.