Aerators to breathe life into the Chao Phya
More than a dozen aerators will be installed in canals connecting Bangkok with adjacent provinces as a further measure to tackle polluted water in the Chao Phya River, Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin said yesterday.
The 20 aerators are in addition to previous measures such as closing all sluice gates to lessen the impact from contaminated water flowing from Angthong and Ayutthaya, where thousands of farmed fish were killed by the polluted water early last week. The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) reported last night that the contaminated water was 6km to 8km from Pathum Thani. The city governor urged city residents to only use tap water. He said the Chao Phya River in the city currently had a dissolved oxygen (DO) level of two to three milligrams per litre (mg/l), which was considered normal. Apirak said recent massive inflows of seawater also meant that the main body of polluted water would reach Pathum Thani today (March 20). RID spokesman Boonsanong Suchatpong said the polluted water had a DO level was at 1.74mg/l when it reached Wat Trairatwittaya in Ayutthaya's Bang Sai district, seven kilometres from Pathum Thani. The department would speed up installation of the Chai Pattana Foundation aerators - handed over to RID by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, he said. Five aerators would be installed at Ayutthaya's Bang Sai Royal Folks Arts and Crafts Centre, five at Pathum Thani's Muang district, and 10 in Nonthaburi. Ayutthaya Governor Cherd-phan na Songkla said he had hired a private company to add more oxygen to the river, which should ease the impact on Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, and Bangkok. Meanwhile, Pollution Control Department (PCD) director-general Supat Wangwongwatana, said the laboratory test results had not been completed and so far it could only be concluded that the fish had died from a lack of oxygen and that the water was not polluted by agricultural chemicals. Unable to pinpoint whether the pollution came from a capsized sugar barge or an industrial factory, Supat said the PCD would gather information for the committee assigned by Angthong Governor today (March 20) to analyse results by various agencies to determine the cause. While the PCD was waiting for the test results, it had found that the sunken barge carrying 650 tonnes of sugar was equal to 440,000 kilogrammes of biochemical oxygen - leading to lower oxygen conditions in the river, according to Supat.
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