Residents in Khon Kaen city are bracing for dry taps as local water authorities said the amount of raw supplies available for production could only last another month due to a severe drought.
Teerasak Teekhayupan, mayor of the Khon Kaen municipality, said the water levels in the Phong and Chi rivers, which supply raw water for tap water production in Muang district, had been very low due to a fierce drought which arrived early this year.
The Provincial Waterworks Authority's Ban Gotha station, which oversees production of tap water for Muang residents, is releasing 110 million litres of water to 93,000 households daily.
If the water demand continued at the same level, after April 11 the agency may have to extract raw water from the base of the Ubonrat Dam to produce tap water, although it would contain sediment and not be suitable for manufacturing, Mr Teerasak said.
Currently, there is very little water left in the Ubonrat Dam with the water level at only 20% of its holding capacity.
Mr Teerasak said the municipality and the Provincial Waterworks Authority would explain the situation to the people and strongly encourage all sides to help save water. If water consumption decreased by 30% per household, the waterworks agency could supply tap water for one more month without having to use the sediment-filled water from the dam’s base.
The mayor warned that the city may not have enough water left for celebrating Songkran festival this year. He said the drought crisis the province is facing is probably worst in three decades