Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome
says a second water-treatment plant would be able to provide Pattaya
with enough water capacity for another 15-20 years of growth.
Chaiyot
Poopapanapong
Pattaya will have enough water capacity for another
15-20 years of growth if a proposed second water-treatment plant is
built, Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome told a city council subcommittee Feb. 9.
Elaborating on his Jan. 19 proposal to put out for
private bid construction of the plant and required pipelines, the mayor
said the second plant would further treat hard water produced by plants
on Soi Nong Yai and Soi Wat Boonkanchanaram so that it could be sold as
tap water by the Provincial Waterworks Authority.
While it’s able to supply Pattaya with about 250,000
cu. meters of water per day, the PWA says the city’s current average
usage of 138,000 cu. meters is rising and, within years, will exceed
capacity.
“Currently there is enough water, but if drought
arrives, repeated water scarcity issues may occur,” the mayor warned the
council. “This project will provide Pattaya City with enough water for
another 15-20 years.”
The mayor also revised his initial 900 million baht
estimate for the cost of the project down to 700 million baht. However,
it is still unclear where that money would come from.
Nonetheless, the mayor still wants to begin
soliciting bids from private companies to run the recycling operation.
The city, he said, would construct the plant itself.
Itthiphol assured council members that even though
the water system would be outsourced to the private sector, the city
would retain control of the 700 million baht in funds it hopes to obtain
and act as “caretaker” after the plant goes into operation.
