Residents of Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai are suffering from tap water shortages, as the provincial waterworks authority has reduced production after water in the Sai River turned murky and muddy.
The waterworks authority announced yesterday that it could not distribute tap water as usual because the water at the points where it is pumped up to be processed beyond the cleansing efficiency of the filter system.
The provincial waterworks authority also said that an electricity outage four days ago has damaged the main water pump at Huai Nam Rin, making it unable to draw water from the river. The water pump is currently undergoing repairs.
Some of the residents have resorted to water from the mountains to ease the tap water shortage.
Dr. Suebsakun Kidnukorn, of Mae Fah Luang University, has urged the Department of Public Disaster Prevention and Mitigation to send water trucks to the people affected in Mae Sai district.
As a long-term solution, he suggested that a reservoir should be built in Mae Chan district to serve as a new source for tap water production, instead of relying on Sai and Ruak rivers.
