World News

The Golden Opportunity in the National Water and Wastewater Management Industry

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(Photo: Thai Water Expo)

A growing population, economic growth, rapid urbanisation and the looming threats posed by climate change are expected to make sustainable water management significantly more difficult in the coming years. Thailand has set water security as a top priority and has highlighted 6 key water issues including water for domestic use, water for production use, flood management, water quality, upstream conservation, and water management.

The Thai government has set water security as a top priority and has undertaken a major policy reform through 4 main pillars:

  • The 20 years Master Plan on Water Resources Management (2018 –2037)
  • The Creation of Office National Water Resources (ONWR)
  • Water Resources Act 2018
  • Developing a Water Management System

The government also announced its water-management plan, including over 11,000 projects from 23 public agencies.

The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) is the ASEAN-leading economic zone for industrial, infrastructure and urban development. The EEC water management plan sets a goal to ensure “environmentally friendly and sustainable water management”. The short-term plan focuses on increasing water supply through reservoirs and water diversions. The long-term plan focuses on supply through reservoirs and diversions systems, via investment of USD1.5 billion. One of the targets is water demand management by aiming to reduce water usage from the industry sector by 10 per cent; by pursuing the 3R approach, Reuse water, Reduce water losses and Recycle resources and wastewater. This, together with the use of smart devices and equipment that monitors the quality of water will reduce freshwater demand and wastewater volume, thus lowering the costs of freshwater acquisition and effluent treatment.