Residents urged to stop clogging Bangkok’s sewers & canals
The Drainage and Sewerage Department appealed to Bangkok residents, street food vendors, restaurants, and construction sites to stop clogging up the capital’s drains after fatbergs, concrete blocks, mattresses and furniture were found in the city’s sewers.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) also urged residents to stop throwing household items into the city’s rivers and canals, saying the garbage is blocking the flow of water and exacerbating flood problems.
A Drainage and Sewerage Department officer, Nattawat Peta, complained about Bangkok’s sewers on Facebook last Wednesday, September 7. He included snaps of a sewer full of fat and pictures of a huge concrete block found in a Soi Sukhumvit 39 sewer.
Nattawat said the congealed fat came from restaurants in the area and it refused to take responsibility. He said…
“The department that still allows those restaurants to open is so ignorant.”
Nattawat added that concrete blocks can be also found in the sewers nearby every construction site and that building companies and engineers need to be more ethical and avoid releasing waste into public sewers.
Nattawat concluded by saying that he wanted everyone to take responsibility and not put the burden on BMA officials or others.
Last Sunday, September 11, on their official Facebook page, the BMA urged residents not to throw garbage into the rivers and canals, especially household goods and large amounts of discarded items. The page also revealed a video of officers trying to remove a mattress from a filter at the Rama 9 tunnel.
According to a BMA report, five to ten tons of garbage is found daily in Bangkok’s canals, especially at the Phra Khanong and Rama 9 pumping stations, which are the last spots in the city before the water flows into the Chao Phraya River.
That garbage obstructs the water flow and makes it harder when it rains heavily making it longer for the flood levels to reduce. The BMA suggests people contact the BMA or the district office if they want to dispose of household items or big amounts of garbage.
