Reservoir 70pc full

KATHU: Despite unusually high rainfall during a month that traditionally marks the onset of the dry season, Phuket’s only reservoir is still far from full – and has only enough water to meet demand until the end of April.

Isara Anukul, Chief of the Water Allocation Division of the Phuket Irrigation Office (PIO), told the Gazette yesterday that there is now about 5 million cubic meters of water in the Bang Wad Reservoir, enough to meet projected demand for the next 4½ months.

The reservoir, Phuket’s principal water supply source, has a total storage capacity of 7.31 million m³.

Commenting on PIO plans to build two more reservoirs, at Klong Kratha in Chalong and Bang Niew Dum in Thalang, he said that the government was still drawing up contracts to buy land from the private sector.

For both projects, land purchases will be completed next year and work will begin in 2007, he said.

Both projects would be completed by 2008, he added.

Sayun Vareearunrod, Manager of the Phuket Waterworks Office (PWO), said his agency’s first strategy to deal with a shortage would be to buy water from privately-controlled tin mines.

The PWO supplies water to much of the southern half of the island except for Phuket City, which has its own supply system.

K. Sayun also confirmed that the PWO has signed a contract with REQ Water Service Center Company to build a desalination plant in Karon, on the road to Patong.

Work on that project, designed to provide 12,000m³ per day, will begin in June 2006 and take six months to complete, he said.

The project will be one way to solve Phuket’s chronic dry season water shortage, as it will rely on ever-present seawater instead of seasonal rainfall, he noted.