Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt has vowed to improve the water quality of Hua Lamphong canal due to pollution concerns.

The canal restoration project is a key event highlighting 2022 National River Conservation Day. But restoring it is a challenge due to the wastewater discharged there from households and Klong Toey Market, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said.

Director of the Freshwater Unit of the Pollution Control Department, Dr Chaiyo Juisri, said the amount of faecal coliform bacteria (FCB) in the canal is in the hundreds of thousands to millions of units, as opposed to just 4,000 units in clean water.

The canal also has a biological oxygen demand (BOD) of hundreds of milligrammes per litre, much higher than the required number of 1.5–2mg per litre.

Vice-president of the Federation of Thai Industries, Somchai Wangwattanapanit, said the work is divided into three phases.

The first six months are for researching water information and constructing a pilot restoration model.

The model will be used in the next 10-month phase, followed by the village renovation and water examinations in the last phase.

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