Pattaya officials say they finally have fixed the problem that has caused raw sewage to stream onto Wong Amat Beach since December.
City spokesman Pinit Maneerat said March 20 that a squirrel had shorted out the wastewater pump at the Naklua beach, causing untreated sewage to foul the beach and sea.
Residents first complained about the pollution Dec. 15. It’s unknown why it took three months to check if the pump was working properly.
The Provincial Electricity Authority and Wetgo International Co. were brought in to fix the equipment and get the sewage moving back to the Soi Nongyai sewage treatment plant in Pattaya.
Pattaya officials admitted in December that the 1.8-billion-baht plant has been processing only 20 percent of the 65,000 cu. meters of water it is supposed to be treating each day. The rest has simply been flowing out untreated and leaking from unmaintained pipes and storage tanks.
An inspection revealed substantial damage to the 10-year-old plant, which has been neglected since the 30-million-baht, three-year operating agreement with Wetgo expired.
