Flying over the low lying flood plains of the Praya Chang River, the main north to south river that drains much of Thailand, it became immediately apparent that this country is covered in water. Even from the plane at many thousands of feet I could see the flooded rice patties, and landscape bisected by many canals of "klongs" as they are refered to in Thai. Historically these klongs were the life blood of the country serving as the main via ducts for goods and people in the country and cities alike. As the country pushes towards modernization many of the klongs are being filled, culverted, and crossed limiting their navigability. Still many poorer residents find themselves living along these waterways in cramped looking shelters either adjacent or in the case of the river on stilts above the waterways.
These waterways resemble open sewers, showing biological growth on their walls characteristic of that found in the filthiest parts of a wastewater treatment plant. There is still at least one klong still navigated by public transportation in the main city, the San Saeb Klong that runs east to west. As the boats speed by they churn up smelly septic water and send large wakes spashing against the retaining walls. From the decks of these boats I made a good portion of my observations.
Through some research I found that the municipal water in Bangkok is supposedly safe. There is even a website showing "realtime" data of chlorine residual and turbidity at selected monitoring stations around the city. Chlorine residual demonstrates the water's ability to resist recontamination from the treatment facility to the tap, and turbidity is a measure of the light transmission through the water (0.00 NTU being perfectly clear) providing a rough metric of the silt, organic, or biological content in the water. Despite this fact, everyone drinks either bottled water or RO filtered water. This could be an issue with taste, a stigma from the past, or fear of harsh chemicals used during water treatment. I myself drank the tap water in the city nearly a week ago and have had no repercussions and did not notice any excessive taste or smell to which I am (I hope) reasonably sensitive.
For those who do not have water purifiers in the home, the streets are dotted with filtered water stations that charge 1 baht/liter (approximately 1.7 cents) for filling. These machines also advertise UV sterilization, which seems redundant.
I did not perform any biological tests on the water in the city, I will make a point of this when I return in the new year.
Through some research I found that the municipal water in Bangkok is supposedly safe. There is even a website showing "realtime" data of chlorine residual and turbidity at selected monitoring stations around the city. Chlorine residual demonstrates the water's ability to resist recontamination from the treatment facility to the tap, and turbidity is a measure of the light transmission through the water (0.00 NTU being perfectly clear) providing a rough metric of the silt, organic, or biological content in the water. Despite this fact, everyone drinks either bottled water or RO filtered water. This could be an issue with taste, a stigma from the past, or fear of harsh chemicals used during water treatment. I myself drank the tap water in the city nearly a week ago and have had no repercussions and did not notice any excessive taste or smell to which I am (I hope) reasonably sensitive.
For those who do not have water purifiers in the home, the streets are dotted with filtered water stations that charge 1 baht/liter (approximately 1.7 cents) for filling. These machines also advertise UV sterilization, which seems redundant.
I did not perform any biological tests on the water in the city, I will make a point of this when I return in the new year.
