Phuket’s Patong to transform feces into fertilizer

PHUKET: Patong Municipality will apply for a 65-million-baht loan to build a treatment plant that will convert thousands of tonnes of Phuket’s fecal matter into fertilizer.

The Patong Council yesterday carried the motion in favor of building the fertilizer factory, with a plan to profit from the horrendous waste.

Residents and tourists in the resort town generate up to 10 tonnes of solid crap a day, explained Patong Mayor Pian Keesin.

From July 2010 to September 2011, the solid waste amounted to 2,020 tonnes, he added.

“I would like to turn this sludge into valuable fertilizer,” he told the council.

“Right now we are giving it away. It helps plants and trees to grow very quickly, but if used on flowering plants, the flowers will not bloom,” he said.

“If we turn it into fertilizer, it will make a lot of money for us.”

The loan application will be filed with the ‘Office of Environmental Fund’ and include plans for a two-storey building covering 1,168 square meters of land at the Patong Wastewater Treatment Plant to produce the fartilizer.

The plans will also include a six-room, two-storey accommodation block for workers.

“The loan should be approved within six months and it will take about one year for construction,” said Mayor Pian.

“The fertilizer plant will be able to produce 10 tons of fertilizer a day. The current market price for fertilizer is about 10 baht a kilogram, but we will sell it for only five to six baht a kilogram.

“If we follow the plan, I am sure we will be able to pay back the loan within seven years,” Mayor Pian said.

— Pimwara Choksakulpan