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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Thailand decided to commission an independent review by experts of international repute to assess the Samut Prakarn Wastewater Management Project in Thailand. The Independent Review Panel's report is available here. The findings conclude that the design of the Samut Prakarn Wastewater Management Project is sound and will significantly reduce wastewater pollution in the upper Gulf of Thailand. The Samut Prakarn Wastewater Management Project, costing about US$750 million and partly financed by ADB (US$230 million), aims to improve the environment in one of Thailand’s most polluted provinces. It is designed to manage industrial, commercial, and residential wastewater that currently flows to the sea through open canals and rivers in a heavily populated area. The wastewater poses health hazards for up to a million people and pollutes large stretches of coastal areas in the Gulf of Thailand. The project has adopted an integrated approach that tackles wastewater pollution both at the source and final treatment points, representing a significant attempt to proactively minimize wastewater pollution. The project includes the collection and treatment of domestic and pretreated industrial wastewater. The treatment plant is designed to treat wastewater after industry has pretreated it to remove toxic elements in accordance with Thai Government standards. Under the project, the pretreated industrial wastewater will be collected by sewer pipes and carried to a treatment plant that is designed to further decompose and purify up to 525,000 cubic meters of wastewater a day. ADB believes that the Thai Government’s approach to the wastewater management problem in Samut Prakarn is technically sound and will help improve the environment. ADB and the Government of Thailand welcome the views of civil society and stakeholders about the project. The Local Pollution SituationSamut Prakarn, which is located Southeast of Bangkok, is the most heavily industrialized and polluted province in Thailand. Straddling the Chao Phraya River, the province has more than 5,000 factories and one million people. The sanitation and wastewater management facilities in the province are ineffective in dealing with the large wastewater flows from industrial, commercial, and residential sources. The result has been severe degradation in water quality and deterioration in public health, as evidenced by the incidence of water- and sanitation-related diseases. Many of the waterways are ecologically weakened, and most of the beneficial uses of the water from the Chao Phraya River have been lost. Due to the severity of the pollution, the Government of Thailand designated the province as a “pollution control area” in 1994, ensuring it of priority for government funding for environmental improvements. Project BackgroundDescriptionThe project is designed to improve wastewater management facilities in Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand, where water pollution poses serious environmental and health risks. The project comprises
Overall ObjectivesThe project seeks to improve the quality of the province’s environment and public health in the province by providing modern, reliable, and cost-effective wastewater collection and treatment facilities. Complementary programs are being implemented to improve environmental monitoring and enforcement, as well as to promote cleaner production for industry. RationaleThe project supports the Government’s policy of developing comprehensive wastewater management strategies in severely polluted areas. Further degradation of the environment and deterioration of public health are inevitable without the implementation of a comprehensive wastewater management program. Centralized wastewater collection and treatment was determined to be the most technically sound and appropriate approach for the situation—as well as the most cost-effective—when combined with an industrial pollution prevention program and enforcement of pollution control regulations. Treatment Plant LocationKlong Daan, Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand: a lightly populated area of low ecological value. The area has seen extensive shrimp farming, which diminished local mangroves. How the Project WorksA wastewater treatment plant will collect wastewater from factories and households using a system of more than 300 kilometers of sewer pipes. The treatment plant, which is only one component of the management strategy supported by the project, is designed to break down and purify industrial wastewater after it has been partially pretreated to remove toxic elements (as required by the Thai Government) and domestic wastewater. The treated wastewater will be released through a 3.4-km outfall pipe into the Gulf of Thailand.CapacityThe plant will have the capacity to treat up to 525,000 cubic meters of wastewater a day. Expected BenefitsImproved Health and Quality of Life: By cleaning up the environment and raising water quality, the project will directly benefit one million residents by improving public health through lower incidence of water- and sanitation-related diseases. The quality of life will improve for low-income families, many of whom often live close to factories in low-lying, flood-prone areas and are most exposed to polluted waterways. Cleaner Environment: The project will annually remove an estimated 72,000 tons of pollutants and about 90 tons of heavy metals from wastewater entering the sea. This will significantly improve water quality, thus enhancing mussel and fish farming yields. Cost Recovery: The polluter-pays principle will be implemented for the first time in Thailand, where industry, which causes 80 percent of the pollution, will pay 80 percent of the clean-up costs. Cost Saving: For medium to serious polluters in the food and textile industries, the cost of using the centralized systems is estimated to be 1.3-40.0 times less per cubic meter than onsite treatment. Cost and FinancingThe total project cost is estimated at about US$750 million, with funding from three sources: US$230 million from ADB, a fixed amount of B1,750 million equivalent from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and the balance from the Government of Thailand. ADB’s Role: A partner in the development of the project and one of the three financiers Government of Thailand’s Role: Project owner and one of the three financiers Executing Agency: Pollution Control Department (PCD)/Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment Loan Approval Dates: Loan No. 1410-Thailand was approved on 7 December 1995, and Supplementary Loan No. 1646-Thailand on 3 December 1998. Status: As of 28 February 2002, overall imple- mentation progress is estimated at 73 percent. Under ADB’s portion of the loan, expenditures have reached 82 percent and contract awards 99 percent. Completion Date: The project is targeted to be completed by 31 December 2003.  |
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