Rapid Assessment for Resilient Recovery and ... - GFDRR

Figure 19: Waste water
treatment facility plant
cubic-meters of water per day.
Figure 19: Waste water treatment
facility plant illustrates the Bang
Pa-in Industrial Estate before the
flood and the potential impacts of
flooding. Normally the treatment
structure can withstand minor
flooding, however, certain equipment,
the control system and the
piping structure are vulnerable
to heavy floods. Furthermore,
finishing ponds or open lagoons
are typically built at ground level,
meaning they will be washed away and fully inundated during any flood, increasing the
potential contamination risk to the surrounding environment and communities. Treatment
of hazardous waste material is normally outsourced to licensed treatment facilities as
transport and treatment of such materials are strictly controlled by law.
Figure 20: Waste
collection trucks
Several municipal solid waste treatment facilities have been adversely impacted by the
flood, leading to loss of capacity, damage to equipment and infrastructure, and secondary
impacts of increasing transport and time
costs of diverting waste to other facilities.
Two major examples are Ta Reng and Nong
Kham waste treatment and transfer stations,
managed by the BMA. The two facilities can
handle 5,400 tons of waste per day with
2,000 tons/day and 3,400 tons/day for Ta
Reng and Nong Kham, respectively. Ta Reng
facility was not directly affected by the floods,
however, the flooding in other areas meant it
was not accessible. Therefore, the waste was first diverted to Nong Kham facility but it too
became partially flooded, reducing its capacity to only 54 percent. The additional volume of
the disaster waste will further stretch the capacities of existing municipal solid waste
treatment facilities and the collection effort. Figure 20 shows trucks diverted from the
affected facilities queuing to dispose of waste at an open facility.
Damage to natural capital within the affected protected areas, wetlands, lakes, and bays is
minimal, as the natural habitat is able to cope well with flooding, if it is not prolonged, as in
the case of terrestrial protected areas in the upper Chao Phraya and Pasak river basins. A
visit to the wetlands of Bueng Boraphet, Nakhon Sawan province, clearly indicated that the
land use planning around the wetlands and the institutional facilities associated with the
wetlands were simply not designed to factor in a flood event of this magnitude.
Consequently, while there will be limited long-term ecological impact, there are significant
short-term physical impacts, largely to management and commercial facilities. Most of the
damage is to buildings, roads, and other structures in the protected areas. Related
damage to aquaculture cages and other commercial equipment is captured in the
agricultural sector.
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