Thai PM: Quality of tap water meets WHO standards during flooding

BANGKOK, November 9 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra led researchers and representatives of the private sector and the World Health Organization (WHO) to inspect a tap water plant in Bangkok's Bang Khen area on Wednesday to guarantee that the drinkable quality of the tap water in the capital meets the WHO's standards. Yingluck insisted that the city's tap water, produced by the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA), meets the Geneva-based UN agency's standards, but probably has some chlorine smell during the ongoing flooding, suggesting people boil the tap water before consumption to get rid of their concerns. The Pheu Thai premier acknowledged that the Prapa Canal needs permanent dykes to prevent overflows into the canal in the future. Researchers earlier informed the prime minister that flood overflows into the Prapa canal appeared to worsen the quality of the capital's tap water, with contaminated germs probably causing diarrhoea among consumers. The MWA has, however, treated its raw water from the canal with chlorine, potassium permanganate, oxygen and additional filters to maintain the international standards of the drinkable quality of its tap water. Meanwhile, the prime minister admitted that a 20-kilometer-long line of large sandbags, known as "big bags", laid to delay floodwater inflows to Bangkok might raise flood levels in the northern outskirts of the capital, noting that water pumps would, therefore, be used to control flood levels there. Regarding possible protests, including road blockage, by flood victims affected by the "big bags", the premier said officials concerned would discuss solutions with the affected people and high-powered water pumps of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) should quickly reduce the floodwater. (TNA)