- Published: 06/09/2012 at 12:00 AM
They said the acceleration of water flow without causing floods to low-lying areas along the canals will provide the basis for a water management system.
Royol Chitdorn, director of the Bangkok Drainage Drill Operation Centre, said he was confident the lessons learned from the exercise will enable officials concerned to tackle flood management work more effectively.
"All I can say is that we have obtained enough information to draw up a model of the water flow in the west and east of the capital. It will be a significant tool in the future for the water drainage system in Bangkok," Mr Royol said.
Sluice gates at Khlong Thawi Watthana were opened yesterday afternoon to increase the water flow to 17 cubic metres per second from 10 cu/m per second. The water was then directed through Khlong Bang Phai, Khlong Bang Weg, Khlong Praya Ratchamontri and Khlong Pasicharoen. There were no reports of flooding in low-lying areas.
Mr Royol said 16 water-pushing machines along the canals helped reduced the water level to 20 centimetres above the mean sea level from 30cm.
"Although we had a higher amount of water, the level was still low due to the quick drainage work," he said. "In the future, there will be no need for us to close the sluice gates to prevent flooding. We can just leave them open and let the water flow through quickly."
He said if the water flow through each canal was increased to 45 cu/m per second, it would mean that as much as 3,000 cu/m of water per second would pass into the sea via the Chao Phraya, Bang Prakong and Tha Chin rivers.
Khlong Thawi Watthana was designed to have the capacity to drain 45 cu/m of water per second, but the capacity has been reduced to only 10 cu/m per second because the canal has become narrower over the years.
Meanwhile, Chatchom Chompradist, director of the Water Management Division from the Department of Royal Irrigation, said the centre planned to conduct a similar test on canals in the east of the city tomorrow.
Sucharit Pultanakulwong, chief of the Department of Water Resources Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, said that the drill showed the relevant state agencies including the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Department of Royal Irrigation have cooperated closely in their work.
While the tests showed satisfactory results, more water should have been used. Instead of 17 cu/m. The water volume used during the tests should have been 45 cu/m per second, he said.
Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi said yesterday's tests showed the water flow in the canals has improved by 20% to 30% after a full year of work to repair the sluice gates and the installation of water flow-accelerating devices.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said the drainage tests ran smoothly as none of the seven spots being watched closely for possible flooding during the trials were affected as had been feared.
MR Sukhumbhand, however, said he was more concerned about the next round of drainage tests to be carried out tomorrow in eastern Bangkok where the drainage route runs through several large communities.
The opposition Democrat Party, meanwhile, countered that the measurement of improved water drainage capacity that was seen in the trials yesterday did not represent the actual drainage capacity of the canals in a real-life situation.
Party deputy spokesman Nat Bantadtan said the government needed to ensure that all the seven major locations found to have overflowed with water on the drainage route during last year's floods were completely fixed.
Share your thoughts
- Discussion 1 : 06/09/2012 at 03:03 PM
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Only by running a test run can measurements and information be collected and analysis. More important is how these data can be used to improve the system. However the government must not overlook the importance of maintenance. We can build new things and improve system but poor to maintain its efficiency. Not only the systems must be improved, the government must design work plan to ensure that all the canals are dredged periodically and sluice gates maintained consistently and audited.
- Discussion 2 : 06/09/2012 at 02:29 PM
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I’m somewhat surprised that Thais just dump the water hyacinths that clog up klongs and rivers and foul boat propellers. For a few years now in the Philippines, cleared water hyacinths are used as an alternative source for fuel and organic fertilizer. Green organic ‘charcoal’, bio diesel and animal feed are other by-products. Maybe Thailand should look into this relatively new energy source instead of consigning the hyacinths to the incinerators or leave them to rot. Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi should give some thought to this.
- Discussion 3 : 06/09/2012 at 01:19 PM
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What model did the Government use during the last flood?
- Discussion 4 : 06/09/2012 at 11:21 AM
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Just more propaganda, they did not open the gates full as they did last year. If they did, water will still overflow. Success? I don't think so, better management and coordination maybe.
- Discussion 5 : 06/09/2012 at 11:03 AM
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Make sure the dams have been drained .Clean the garbage and water hyacinth out of the canals .Make sure the gates are repaired and stop playing whether the canals work .They work everyday .
- Discussion 6 : 06/09/2012 at 10:08 AM
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D2 Ian - The same could be said for the PTP when they were the opposition, nothing positive ever came from their mouths and they did everything they could to block anything the DEMs tried to do and I can't even begin to count how many times they tried votes of confidence and calls for impeachment. That is the nature of Thailand's version of Democracy.
But they are correct, a reduced water flow does not test what would happen during the much higher flood levels.
And I have to wonder, since the Science Minister has claimed improvement ... did they actually test the system before the floods using a similar water flow? That is the ONLY way one can determine if the flow has improved.
- Discussion 7 : 06/09/2012 at 10:05 AM
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"Khlong Thawi Watthana was designed to have the capacity to drain 45 cu/m of water per second, but the capacity has been reduced to only 10 cu/m per second because the canal has become narrower over the years"
Narrower? 45 cu/m to 10 cu/m I should call this narrow, too narrow as per numbers above
- Discussion 8 : 06/09/2012 at 10:04 AM
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"Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi said yesterday's tests showed the water flow in the canals has improved by 20% to 30% after a full year of work to repair the sluice gates and the installation of water flow-accelerating devices."
Hate to be pessimistic, but by the time nature (or some smart MP) strikes again, the system will be in the same bad shape as it was last year.
- Discussion 9 : 06/09/2012 at 09:06 AM
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1,000 rai of rice paddies flooded is a success?
- Discussion 10 : 06/09/2012 at 08:57 AM
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"All I can say is that we have obtained enough information to draw up a model of the water flow in the west and east of the capital." Mr Royol said.
This is so abviously false as they haven't tested the east yet.
A real test would be if there is the same amount of rainfall as last year and the same idiot lets the damns fill too full and has to release tons of water.
- Discussion 11 : 06/09/2012 at 08:50 AM
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The opposition Democrat Party, meanwhile, countered that the measurement of improved water drainage capacity that was seen in the trials yesterday did not represent the actual drainage capacity of the canals in a real-life situation.
Can they ever say anything positive?
- Discussion 12 : 06/09/2012 at 08:47 AM
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Wow! Some positive news for once! Good to see.
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