Inflow of seawater hits Ban Sang in Prachin Buri

The Chao Phya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital in Muang district does not even have enough water for hemodialysis patients and is depending on the provincial administrative organisation supplying at least 20,000 litres per day.
Prachin Buri governor Ukrit Pheungsopa said Ban Sang water could now not be used for irrigation, tap-water or consumption. Water had been stored from sources ahead of the inflows and the situation was under control for now, so the province would seek help from local bodies and companies that have water sources if the problem persists, he said.
Ban Sang’s tambon Bang Yang administrator Chaichana Nuan-suwan said his office had dredged and filled a 10-rai pond beforehand so they would have tap-water for three months, but the Prachin Buri River’s salinity level of 10 milligrams per litre also worried him.
Chao Phya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital director Dr Charan Boonritthikan said besides receiving some 20,000 litres of water a day, they would ask the Department of Water Resources to provide underground water from Sara Buri and urged them to dig more wells. If seawater inflows persisted, they would ask the Burapha Phayak army division and the 12th Military Circle Land Welfare Project for support in setting up a field tap-water system, he said.
The Pasak Jolasid Dam in Lop Buri is only at 40 per cent of capacity, with some 390 million cubic metres, and releasing 1.74 million cubic metres of water a day to feed the bio-system and push out seawater. So, an initial batch of rainmaking flights was carried out in the Pasak River basin area yesterday.
Meanwhile, in Phichit’s Muang district, farmer Direk Inhan lamented over the sharp decline of Marian plums – from 15 tonnes to less than one tonne, as drought has damaged 1,500 Marian plum trees on his 30-rai plantation in tambon Dong Klang. Farmers in Phichit have Marian plums on over 10,000 rai, but the changing climate has caused the trees to be barren and badly hit their levels of produce.
In Pathum Thani province, sluice gates along the Chao Phraya River remained shut to prevent seawater seeping into the raw water supply that feeds the tap-water system.
Head of the Provincial Waterworks Authority’s Pathum Thani branch, Jongjit Srikaenkud, insisted that tap-water quality was normal for now, as they have used stored water to supply the system since January. But in the wake of seawater inflows, the branch was digging four underground water wells to dilute salty water for tap-water usage. So, she said the situation was under control.
Meanwhile, an informed source said Bhumibol Dam in Tak now has just 4 per cent of capacity due to hot weather and public use of water. So, officials want people to seriously save recycling water used to wash clothes and for watering plants.