Bangkok’s tap water is scuzzy again. City Hall blames the universe, again.

It’s that time of the year when salty tap water is a thing in Bangkok, and officials once again blame drought conditions.

Bangkok Gov. Aswin Kwanmuang announced today that residents, especially children, the elderly, the ill and small pets should avoid drinking water from the tap as a one-two punch of storm surge and drought have lowered water levels and increased salinity in the Chao Phraya River.

He insisted that the brackish water could still be used for other purposes or even consumed by healthy people (if they pinch their noses). His only suggestion? Ease off on the salt otherwise consumed, for “good health,” the sage governor advised.

Salt concentration in water for home use is not supposed to exceed 0.25 grams per liter. However, water across metro Bangkok has been peaking at 1.18 grams per liter, according to the metro utility’s real-time water quality information.

The water’s been off for some weeks and, like smog and booze bans and flooding, its spoiling has become an annual occurrence. Around this time last year, officials warned it would persist through May. This year, no words were spent on how long it would last or what would be done to fix it. So it’s just a thing, now.

People haven’t masked their resentment about the warnings offered with no proper solutions put forward.

“Do you have a long-term solution rather than a warning? We have been facing this problem for several years now,” Watchapol Tulyavilaikul wrote on social media.

“Last year, I had to buy water to drink for several months although I have a water filter at home,” Korapas Sittichumroon wrote. “Find a long-term solution please. This is becoming a fundamental issue of people living in Bangkok, much like the PM 2.5 smog which adds to our other long-term issues of traffic congestion and flood.”

Related

Bangkok’s tap water to remain stanky until May

So Salty: If Bangkok’s tap water tastes funny, blame the drought

 



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