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A street of Muang Mai Market flooded with waste water on
December 1, 2015
Preliminary Study on Muang Mai Market: Overview of Waste Water
Management problems and Preliminary Recommendations
for Muang Mai Market, the largest wholesale fresh market in
Chiang Mai Municipality, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand
December 2015
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Contents Executive Summary
................................................................................................................
51. RATIONALE
....................................................................................................................
61.1. Wastewater management in Thailand
..........................................................................
61.2. Chiang Mai in general
..................................................................................................
71.2.1. Background
..............................................................................................................
71.2.2. Chiang Mai Creative City
........................................................................................
101.2.3. Cultural Heritage UNESCO
....................................................................................
111.3. Study area: Muang Mai Market
..................................................................................
122. On-site Survey in Muang Mai Market
............................................................................
142.1. Current Market Settings
.............................................................................................
142.1.1. Ownership Structure
...............................................................................................
142.1.2. Private Roads/Infrastructure
...................................................................................
162.1.3. Hygienic situation
...................................................................................................
172.1.4. Waste water and solid waste management in the market
...................................... 182.2. Prevention and
Mitigation measures implemented by Governmental and Municipal
bodies
..................................................................................................................................
212.3. Prevention and Mitigation measures implemented at another
Fresh market: Chang Puek Market
..........................................................................................................................
242.4. Muang Mai Market Stakeholder Consultation and Stakeholder
Mapping .................. 253. The Nexus Approach and Provisional
Recommendations ........................................... 274.
The Proposed Technical Approach
...............................................................................
294.1. Objective
....................................................................................................................
294.2. Technological description of a vacuum sewer
...........................................................
294.2.1. Design standard
.....................................................................................................
304.2.2. Advantages of vacuum sewer system
....................................................................
304.2.3. Comparison between vacuum system and septic tank system
.............................. 314.2.4. Bio waste Grinder
...................................................................................................
324.3. Components and outputs
...........................................................................................
334.3.1. Proposed design of vacuum sewer network
...........................................................
334.3.2. Energy consumption
...............................................................................................
344.3.3. Location for vacuum station
....................................................................................
344.3.4. Transfer of technology
............................................................................................
344.4. Cost calculations
........................................................................................................
354.5. Comparing investment: Vacuum technology VS gravity system
................................ 354.6. Risks and operational
problems
.................................................................................
355. Technical Assistance
.....................................................................................................
366. Conclusion
.....................................................................................................................
36Annex 1: Description of septic tank
.......................................................................................
39Annex 2: Cost calculation of vacuum sewerage system
....................................................... 40Annex 3:
Chiang Mai Municipality Sewerage System Master Plan
...................................... 41Annex 4: Thailand Surface
Water Standard
.........................................................................
42Annex 5: DIN EN 1091 Vacuum Sewerage Systems Outside Buildings
.............................. 43Annex 6: List of Meetings and
Interviews
.............................................................................
43Annex 7: Assessment Form: Development and Upscaling of Healthy
Market ..................... 44
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Abbreviations list BMZ German Federal Ministry of Economic
Cooperation and Development CO2 Carbon dioxide CNC Chao Nua Market
Company CFMA Chiang Mai Fresh Market Association CMU Chiang Mai
University EM Effective Micro-organism GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft fr
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) ISOC Internal Security
Operations Command JKC Jae Krung Company M Meter MM Millimeter MoU
Memorandum of Understanding MMC Muang Mai Market Company MSC Muang
Samutr Market Company NTF Nexus Task Force ONEP Office of National
Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning PCD Pollution
Control Department PE Person Equivalent PVC Polyvinyl Chloride THB
Baht (Thai currency) UNESCAP United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific UNESCO The United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization WMA Wastewater
Management Authority WWTP Wastewater Treatment Plant
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Executive Summary
Chiang Mai, Thailand, is one of the Nexus partner cities within
the Integrated Resource Management in Asian Cities: The Urban Nexus
Project, financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ. Chiang
Mai is suffering from a precarious sanitation system (combined
surface drainage and wastewater drainage with septic tanks) 1 . The
problem magnifies when focusing on the wastewater management within
fresh or wet markets throughout Chiang Mai, especially the Muang
Mai Market. Muang Mai Market is one of 16 markets in Chiang Mai
being the biggest of them and the only wholesale2 market.
Wastewater and solid waste from Muang Mai Market are generated
from distinct sources and activities which include meat, poultry,
seafood preparation, preparation of fruit and vegetable and stall
cleaning, preparation and consumption of food, waste water from
cleaning the market floors and market streets, as well as public
restrooms.
The above mentioned waste water and organic solid waste are
often discarded into the drainage system and cause heavy blockage
within the markets drainage/sewage system, which means that a rain
shower can cause flooding in several areas of the markets. The
contaminated water along with the rats and other disease carriers
such as cockroaches and mosquitoes living inside the sewer, as well
as the meat, seafood, and fish being exposed to flies and sometimes
also soaked in formalin, cause serious hygiene concerns. Moreover,
wastewater from Muang Mai market is being released into the nearest
natural water way. Muang Mai Market has now become one of the main
contributors to the contamination of Mae Kha canal which was once
essential to the livelihood of Chiang Mai people. The released
waste water contaminates the natural water way and affects the
communities and establishments downstream as well as affects the
overall image of Chiang Mai which in turn could decrease tourism
and other economic and development gains of the city.
The market ownership structure increases difficulties in solving
waste water management problems in Muang Mai Market. Most people
perceive that Muang Mai Market Company (MMC) owns the whole of
Muang Mai Market. But in fact the actual area owned by MMC is very
small relative to the individually owned commercial building areas.
MMC used to own the whole area but during financial crisis in 1998
the company was forced by the banks to sell its properties.
Therefore, most of the properties are now owned by other
individuals or companies. These properties include commercial
buildings, car parks, residential buildings, and fresh markets
owned by other individuals or companies. Altogether 3 owners
respectively own 3 licensed fresh markets in Muang Mai Market being
Muang Mai Market Company (MMC), Muang Samut Market Company (MSC),
and Chao Nua Market Company (CNC).However, some narrow streets and
the partial sewerage system is still owned by MMC making it
difficult to identify clear responsibilities between MMC and the
Municipality. Another serious concern and one of the main problems
of the market is encroachment of roads and walkways Commercial
building owners built extended roofs and stalls which cover the
sewerage as well as narrow down the market streets. The small
street vendors3 also take up areas on the walk ways and streets of
the market. Therefore, these encroachments prevent 1 So called
septic tanks consisting of one chamber (concrete) only and not
sealed at the bottom. The correct term is cesspit rarely used. More
details in Annex 1. Another type of septic tanks installed in many
households and buildings are the Polyethylene or Fiber Re-enforced
Plastic tanks. 2 Muang Mai market is called a wholesale market,
however, there is a big number of individual customers buying small
quantities of products. The majority of the customers, however, are
restaurants and hotel owners and operators. 3 The small street
vendors are the roughly 500 informal vendors located around the
Muang Mai market area
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traffic flow in the streets of the market and prevent proper
repair and maintenance of the sewerage system, as well as making it
difficult for ambulances and police cars to enter in case of
emergencies. Muang Mai market has no functioning sewerage system.
The sewerage system is a combined opened system. The opened system
is susceptible to solid waste and organic waste entering and
blocking the pipelines. Moreover, the sewerage pipe network is only
partially laid, not covering the whole Muang Mai Market area.
Although some prevention and mitigation efforts to solve the
problems in Muang Mai market have been initiated by several
organizations such as the ISOC (Internal Security Operations
Command), the Municipal Health Department, Chiang Mai University,
MMC, Fresh market association, etc, the results have not been
effective so far. These prevention and mitigation efforts include:
the ISOC widening up a market street adjacent to the Municipality
by prohibiting street vendors to place their products on the
street; the Municipality Public Health Department performs
monitoring of licensed markets once a month using the Attractive
Fresh Market Standard 4; MMC cooperated with commercial building
owners or tenants (on one of the market streets) to open up the
front part (walkway) of their buildings to allow for the dredging
of the sewerage line.
Therefore, Chiang Mai Municipality has requested technical
assistance from GIZ Nexus project to conduct a feasibility study on
the sewerage problems and possible solutions in Muang Mai market.
Preliminary data collection in preparation for the full feasibility
study was conducted twice; the first time was 30th November to 3rd
December 2015, the second time was 3rd February to 5th February
2016.
The preliminary data collection identified key problems,
stakeholders, and proposes preliminary solutions of both technical
and governance aspects. A detailed feasibility study is under
preparation to obtain accurate data for the design and cost
estimation of the sustainable technical and governance
solutions.
1. RATIONALE
1.1. Wastewater management in Thailand
Thailand has a population of 67.2 million inhabitants being the
20th most populous country on earth.5 In fact, it is estimated the
population is nearer to 70 million with estimated 2.2 million legal
and illegal migrants including expatriates. Its population growth
amounts to 0.4% today. In 2011 the urban population amounted to
34.1% with an estimated rate of urbanization of 1.7% between
2005-2010.6
The urban growth rate, the increasing urban population density
and the big number of tourists (26.7 million in 2013) visiting
Thailand throughout the year7 exert a rising pressure on physical
urban infrastructure in particular in major cities.
The inadequacy of urban infrastructure including ineffective
sewerage systems is a major constraint reducing Thailands
competitiveness, quality of life and future development
4 Annex 7 shows the assessment criteria for the fresh markets in
Chiangmai to achieve Attractive Fresh Market Standard 5
worldpopulationreview.com/countries/thailand-population; the sex
ratio is 48,953% male to 51,047% female_ Retrieved 2014-12-01. 6
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization_by_country,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world.../fields/2212.html_
Retrieved 2014-12-01. 7 www.thaiwebsites.com/tourism.asp_ Retrieved
2014-12-01.
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perspectives. Access to adequate sanitation services is in
particular low throughout the urban centres.
The problem magnifies when focusing on the wastewater management
within fresh or wet markets throughout Thailand. Wastewater and
solid waste from these markets are generated from distinct sources
and activities. These include:
Meat, poultry, seafood preparation and cleaning of vendor stalls
Fruit and vegetable (produce) preparation and cleaning of vendor
stalls Preparation and consumption of food Cleaning of market
floors and market streets Public restrooms Residential and office
buildings within the market area
In the case of large wholesale fresh markets such as Muang Mai
Market in Chiang Mai, the waste water and solid waste from the
market are discarded into the combined storm water drainage, the
wastewater typically contains high levels of organic material,
suspended solids, fats, oils and grease. This causes heavy blockage
within the markets drainage/sewage system, which means that a rain
shower can cause flooding in several areas of the market. Flooding
does not only paralyze the traffic going through the streets
(decreases sales opportunity for the vendors), but the contaminated
water along with the rats and other disease carriers living inside
the sewer expose serious hygiene risks. Moreover, wastewater from
Muang Mai market is being released into the nearest natural water
way; the Mae Kha Canal. The Mae Kha hence becomes contaminated and
affects the communities and establishments downstream as well as
affects the overall image of Chiang Mai which in turn could
decrease the citys tourism and other economic and development
gain.
It is hence important to introduce an economically and
technically feasible sewerage system to connect all vendors of
Muang Mai market, and collect and treat the waste water by
innovative technical systems. A further step perhaps can be taken
in transforming the high organic wastewater to energy to be used
within the market (or used in a decentralize treatment plant and
vacuum station). The energy/electricity can be produced from waste
water by using the biogas (from digestion of the high organic load
in the waste water) as the fuel for electricity generator. The
treated waste water can be used for flushing/dilute the Mae Kha
Canal and possibly the moat surrounding the old city. Moreover, the
digestrate which is a by-product from waste water treatment can be
used for agricultural purposes. The introduction of such
technologies and implementation thereof should be accompanied by
commitment of all stakeholders to join-hands in solving the waste
water problem leveraging strong regulation and policy to make the
solution effective and sustainable.
1.2. Chiang Mai in general
1.2.1. Background
Chiang Mai is the largest and most culturally significant city
in northern Thailand, founded in 1296. Chiang Mai means new city"
and was so-named because it succeeded to a new capital of the Lanna
kingdom during 12961768 after Chiang Rai.
Chiang Mai is 700 km north of Bangkok, among the highest
mountains in the country. With a population of over 150,000 in the
city proper (but more than 1 million in the metropolitan area), it
is Thailand's third largest city. The city comprises an area of
40.216 km2, is 310 m. above sea level and has a density of
3,687/km2.
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Chiang Mai as a city with several cultural heritages applied for
World Heritage status8 with UNESCO on 9th February 2015. In 2013,
the city also planned to apply for another status with UNESCO
called Creative City status9. The city has over 300 Buddhist
temples.10 Chiang Mai's historic importance is derived from its
close proximity to the Ping River, a major tributary of the Chao
Phraya River and major trading routes. The 720 year old city of
Chiang Mai was built to be the capital city of the Lanna Kingdom
(the kingdom of a million rice fields) by its then ruler King
Mengrai. In the late 13th century, the Lanna Kingdom covered most
of present day Northern Thailand, as well as neighbouring parts of
Myanmar (Burma), China and Laos. Chiang Mai is also called Rose of
the North11.
While officially the Municipality (thesaban nakhon) of Chiang
Mai12 covers most parts of the Mueang Chiang Mai district, the
city's sprawl extends into several neighboring districts. The
Municipality is subdivided into four wards (khwaeng): Nakhon Ping,
Srivijaya, Mengrai, and Kawila. The first three are on the west
bank of the Ping River, and Kawila is on the east bank. The city
center, which is the walled city of Chiang Mai is mostly within
Srivijaya ward.13
1.2.1.1. Climate
Chiang Mai has a tropical wet and dry climate, tempered by the
low latitude and moderate elevation, with warm to hot weather
year-round, though night-time conditions during the dry season can
be cool and much lower than daytime highs.14 The Hot (Summer)
Season in Chang-Mai extends from March through May. Daytime
temperatures can be unbearably hot during this period. The Rainy
Season occurs from May through October and "the cool" (Winter)
Season finds place from November through February. The months
January, November and December have a nice average temperature. On
average, the temperatures are always high. Most rainfall (rainy
season) is seen in May, June, July, August, September and October.
Chiang Mai has dry periods in January, February, March and
December. On average, the warmest month is April and the coolest
month is January. August is the wettest month and February is the
driest month.
1.2.1.2. Education
Chiang Mai has several universities, including Chiang Mai
University, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Rajamangala University
of Technology Lanna, Payap University, Far Eastern University, and
Maejo University, as well as numerous technical and teacher
colleges. Chiang Mai University was the first government university
established outside of Bangkok. Payap University was the first
private institution in Thailand to be granted university
status.
1.2.1.3. Transport
Bus, train, and air connections serve Chiang Mai well. A number
of bus stations link the city to central and northern Thailand. The
state railway operates 10 trains a day to Chiang Mai Station from
Bangkok. Most journeys run overnight and take approximately 1215
hours. Chiang Mai is the northern terminus of the Thai railway
system.
8 Cultural Heritage application:
http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6003/ 9 Creative City
application: http://www.creativeChiang
Mai.com/project_view.php?project_id=5 10 Temple is called wat in
Thai. 11 http://www.discoverythailand.com/Chiang_Mai.asp 12 The
modern municipality dates to a sanitary district (sukhaphiban) that
was created in 1915. It was upgraded to a municipality (thesaban)
on 29 March 1935, as published in the Royal Gazette, Book No. 52
section 80. 13 Chiang Mai Municipality 2008 14 Daily Climate
Weather Data Statistics 2015
https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,Chiang-Mai,Thailand
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The local preferred forms of transports are personal motorbike
and private car. Local public transports are via tuk-tuk15,
songthaew16, or rickshaws.
1.2.1.4. Chiang Mai Airport
Chiang Mai International Airport receives up to 28 flights a day
from Bangkok (flight time about 1 hour 10 minutes) and also serves
as a local hub for services to other northern cities such as Chiang
Rai, Phrae, and Mae Hong Son. International services also connect
Chiang Mai with other regional centres, including cities in other
Asian countries.
Chiang Mai International Airport is Thailand's third largest,
after Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang in Bangkok.17
1.2.1.5. Tourism
According to Thailand's Department of Tourism, Chiang Mai had
14.1 million visitors in 2013: 4.6 million foreigners and 9.5
million Thais.18 The number of tourists from China has steadily
increased by at least 20% in 2013 over 201219, driven by the
success of the Chinese film Lost in Thailand. More than 80% of the
film was shot in the province.
Chiang Mai is one of two tourist destinations in Thailand on
TripAdvisor's list of "25 Best Destinations in the World", where it
stands at number 24.20 The city has more than 33.000 hotel
rooms.
Figure 1. Elephant riding Figure 2. Doi Suthep Temple
15 Tuk-tuk are auto rickshaws. 16 Red taxis (pick-up vans) are
passenger vehicles used as shared taxis available in abundance in
Chiang Mai. They are private taxis without fixed routes. The
songthaew are roaming round the town looking for passengers. They
are normally empty contributing heavily to the air pollution within
Chiang Mai City. 17 "Five-year MICE master plan in the making for
Chiang Mai" 2013, TTGmice. 18 "Internal Tourism in Chiang Mai"
2013, Department of Tourism, Department of Tourism, Thailand 19 The
Tourism Authority of Thailand - Chiang Mai office 20 "Best
Destinations in the World - Travelers' Choice Awards" 2012.
TripAdvisor.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Chiang-Mai-among-top-global-destinations-30181237.html
Retrieved 2014-12-01.
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1.2.2. Chiang Mai Creative City
Chiang Mai Creative City is an initiative to develop Chiang Mai
into a Creative City a UNESCO status.21 A Creative City is a city
where cultural and creative activities are an integral part of the
city's economic and social functioning.22
The initiative covers creative clusters but also other issues
such as urban development, education, R&D and innovation and
collaboration. Some of the involved stakeholders put emphasis on
the IT, software and digital content sector - since it is an
important growth sector and an enabler for other sectors. Moreover,
this sector also has a high potential for generating spill over
effects, creating value-added, and attracting additional
investment.
Existing key sectors such as tourism (e.g. medical tourism,
cultural tourism, historical tourism), handicrafts (jewellery,
silverware, celadon and other forms of pottery, textile, etc.),
food/agro-industry, and healthcare are also targeted and can be
upgraded using new designs, processes, IT, (technology based)
innovation, and creative thinking.
The Chiang Mai Creative City Development Committee was set up by
the Governor of Chiang Mai and consists of members from the
education, private and government sectors. The Governor of Chiang
Mai Province, the president of Chiang Mai University, the president
of Payap University, the president of North Chiang Mai University,
and the US Consul General are advisors.
The objective of the Development Committee are to develop a
road-map and strategy for Chiang Mai Creative City, coordinate and
share information across stakeholders, coordinate and govern
projects, implement and operate activities and projects, set up
working committees and working teams as required.
The time frame for Chiang Mai Creative City is long-term (1520
years). Medium-term, the vision and objectives align with
Thailand's national social and economic development plan (20122016)
emphasizing on creativity, creative economy, knowledge and
innovation.
Chiang Mai will become a recognized centre for IT, digital
content, and other creative sectors, activities and talent.
Technology, design, creative thinking and innovation support
existing key industries as well as the social, environmental and
economic objectives of the city, province and people. It is
attractive as a place for living, investing, retiring, visiting,
studying and working. 23
The missions of the Chiang Mai Creative City initiatives
include: Marketing Chiang Mai as an attractive location for
investment and business; Developing the creative industries in
Chiang Mai, including IT, software and digital
content cluster leverage to develop existing industries; Develop
city into a stronger growth engine and service hub for the rest of
Northern
Thailand; Creating more business opportunities and jobs;
Promoting creativity (creative thinking, innovation, etc.) at all
levels; Ensuring that Chiang Mai's historic and cultural heritage
are preserved and that
development is sustainable; Embracing and creating benefits for
all key stakeholders groups.
21 http://www.Chiang Mainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=3065_
Retrieved 2014-12-01. 22 Charles Landry "Creative City":
http://www.charleslandry.com/index.php?l=creative_ Retrieved
2014-12-01. 23 Thailand's National Strategy on Creative Economy:
http://thailand.prd.go.th/view_inside.php?id=5403_ Retrieved
2014-12-01.
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1.2.3. Cultural Heritage UNESCO 24
Chiang Mai qualifies to be a UNESCO Cultural Heritage in many
aspects including the following:
a) The authenticity of the city design
The authentic dates of the founding of Chiang Mai is recorded in
the various versions of Lanna chronicles, as well as on the stone
inscription dated 1592 found and kept at Wat Chiangman, the first
temple built by Mangrai in CHiang Mai. All of the written sources
show the uniquely remarkable decision making involving not only
Mengrai, the founder and King of Lanna, but also the two kings of
strategically allied kingdoms: Payao and Sukhothai.
b) The authenticity of the sources.
The Lanna Kingdom and all the cities and towns in the Lanna area
have a very rich and credible written tradition for recording
almost every important event that takes place in the kingdom, at
the temple, and in the community. Thanks to the Lanna scripts,
historians are able to learn about the "golden age of Lanna (1400
to 1525 AD) and its renaissance (1775 up the modern times). Both
were periods of prosperity made possible by peace and stability of
the city of Chiang Mai, capital of the Lanna Kingdom. In response
to pedagogic and ritual needs, large numbers of manuscripts were
copied and new texts were written in the distinctive Tham alphabets
and vowels, thus enabling the Lanna Buddhist culture to rapidly
develop into a great regional civilization, consolidating the
internal ethnic community and temple network which endure until
today.
c) The authenticity of the restoration technique The monuments
and sites of Chiang Mai nominated in this nomination are mostly
temples and public spaces, nationally and regionally held as being
historically important, with cultural influences extended to the
communities in the vicinity, or in the entire region. In the case
of temples, some, such as Wat PraThat Doi Suthep, is regarded as
the most important nationally and internationally. Temples in the
Lanna region are all surrounded by walls with gates on important
cardinal directions. The surrounding walls are for the demarcation
of the sacred area, though a Buddhist temple is a public place
opened to all. Inside the walled temple compound, there are a
number of buildings built in different historical periods, and
subsequently repaired, restored and renovated in accordance with
the social and cultural needs and situations. The relevant
renovations in the past always involved, to a very large extent,
the devotees and the communities as the stakeholders. In modern
times, however, devotees make voluntary donations towards the
maintenance of the temple, and for the restoration or recreation of
certain buildings in decaying state. The abbot and the temple
committee composed of community members, are normally in charge of
restoration, but if the temples are registered as archaeological
monuments, the Fine Arts Department will be responsible for the
restoration plan and design. Traditions and techniques are of huge
considerations and in Chiang Mai, the conservation group and the
university as well as the traditional scholars are very vocal on
these issues.
24 Cultural Heritage application:
http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6003/
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There are other criteria which qualifie Chiang Mai for the
application of UNESCO cultural heritage. However, as the Ping
River, the Mae Kha Canal, and the Old City Moat are all nominated
landscapes for the cultural heritage status, Chiang Mai should take
up the restoration of these important sites as its priorities.
1.3. Study area: Muang Mai Market
The growth of Chiang Mai City causes strain and contamination to
natural resources. For Chiang Mai, one of the major problems is
ineffective wastewater management which directly effects the Mae
Kha Canal.
It was recorded in the city legends that the Mae Kha canal was
one of the seven auspicious constituents of the old city, King
Mangrai the founder of Chiang Mai believing that these seven
constituents were the key elements that would make Chiang Mai a
flourishing and prosperous community.25
Chiang Mai was founded built over seven hundred years ago, and
since then, the Mae Kha canal has been serving the city,
functioning as a communication route and the citys water supply for
agriculture and daily usage. Seven hundred and twenty years later,
Mae Kha canal, is nothing but a heavily polluted sewer line. Other
water stream tributaries to the Mae Kha canal also face the same
pollution problems.
The Mae Kha obtains its water from sources to the north and west
of the city, as well as canals within the city. Over the years it
has become an open sewer flowing through the heart of the city.
People (illegal settlers) live and work immediately along the Mae
Kha and it was observed by the study team that the effluent is
discharged directly into the canal from these residences and
businesses.
As an attempt by government authorities to fix the problem, a
concrete section of the Mae Kha was built concrete bottom and
concrete canal banks. However, the concrete section is only 2
kilometers long, while the total length of the Mae Kha is 30
kilometers.
One of the main contributors26 to the contamination of Mae Kha
Canal is the waste water released from Muang Mai market.
Starting operation over 40 years ago, Muang Mai Market is one of
the 16 wet markets in Chiang Mai. It is the main wholesale market
in Chiang Mai located a couple of blocks northeast of Chiang Mai's
old city center (Koo Muang), adjacent to Chiang Mai Municipality
office. As the city grows the demand for the products from Muang
Mai market also grows.
The market is open 24 hours with various vendors set up i.e.
street vendors, stalls, shops, commercial buildings and selling
from the back of the trucks. Products are mainly agricultural
products direct from the farms. A variety of vegetables can be
found there; citrus, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, kale, onions,
cilantro and morning glory and seasonal fruits such as mango,
rambutan, durian, banana, etc. There is also a full range of meat
products, be it pork, beef, buffalo meat, poultry, meatballs,
sausage and seafood: fish, shrimp, squid, shells, eel, etc. Frogs
and turtles can be purchased at the market as well. There are also
dry food products
25 Seven Auspicious Constituents
http://www.compasscm.com/viewissue.php?id=794&lang=th&issue=103
26 The largest contributor to the contamination of Mae Kha canal
are the communities (Foreign and Thai illegal settlers) living
along and on top of the Mae Kha canal who discard their solid
wastes and untreated waste water into the canal.
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13
such as spices and other raw material as ingredients for
cooking. Additionally, cooking utensils and a variety of kitchen
ware are sold at the market.
The retail vendors, restaurants and hotels purchasing officers,
and individuals who seek lower prices for fresh products will
arrive at Muang Mai market early in the morning. Although the
products are sold all day and night but the best purchasing time
starts from 2 am until 6 am.
Figure 3. Muang Mai market located north-east of Chiang Mai
walled city
Figure 4. Muang Mai market map.The general public perceives the
Muang Mai Market to be the whole area above (apart from the purple
colour buildings, which are the Chiang Mai Municipality), and this
is the whole area where the six days preliminary study was
conducted (30 November to 2 December 2015 and 3 February to 5
February 2016) by GIZ Nexus.
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2. ON-SITE SURVEY IN MUANG MAI MARKET 2.1. Current Market
Settings
2.1.1. Ownership Structure Although the whole area in Figure 4
above is perceived by most people as the Muang Mai Market, the
actual areas owned by Muang Mai Market Company (MMC) are the areas
in the red color frame shown in the figure. MMC used to own the
whole area but during financial crisis in 1998 the company was
forced by the banks to sell part of its properties. Therefore, most
of the properties are now owned by other individuals/companies.
These properties include commercial buildings, car parks,
residential buildings, and fresh markets owned by other
individuals/companies. There are 5 types of Business Operators in
the Muang Mai Market:
1) Fresh Market Owners: There are 3 big market owners who are
authorized or licensed companies to operate fresh market in the
whole Muang Mai area: 1. Muang Mai Market Company (MMC) the red
frame area in Figure 4, 2. Muang Samutr Market Company (MSC) - the
yellow frame area in Figure 4, 3. Chao Nua Market Company (CNC),
the dark blue frame area in Figure 4. These three companies sublet
to vendors to operate within their authorized area. The Fresh
Market license can be renewed annually for 2,000 Baht. (Note that
license fee for operating fresh markets is 2000 Baht per year
regardless of the size of the market.) The three owners are called
big market owners because these are individual companies who own a
relatively larger area than single commercial building owners or
single stall owners.
2) Commercial Building Owners: The owners of these commercial
buildings either sublet the building to other vendors or operate
the shops themselves. Although these commercial buildings are
selling products similar to those sold at the authorized fresh
markets, they are not operating on Fresh Market licenses but on a
Storage and Sales licenses. The Storage and Sales license can be
annually renewed for 1,000 Baht. All together there are roughly 500
authorized vendors in the area. These 500 vendors are either
authorized under the Fresh Market license of the big market owners
or hold their own Storage and Sales licenses. There are another 500
vendors (including commercial buildings and street vendors) who are
operating without licenses.
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15
Figure 5. An example of commercial buildings where products are
sold inside and outside the building
3) Vendors: These vendors are the ones who rent the spaces from
the Fresh Market Owners or Commercial Building Owners. Those
vendors27 who rent from Fresh Market Owners do not need a license
to operate since the Fresh Market Owners already have licenses for
their respective area. However, for those vendors who rent from the
commercial buildings, there needs to be verification on the number
of valid Storage and Sales licenses held by the commercial building
owners which means that currently some of the vendors operating
inside the commercial buildings do have valid licenses and some do
not. Some of these vendors are large vendors who rent or occupy 2
or 3 commercial buildings.
4) Off the Truck Vendors:
Some parking areas are not simply used as parking space for cars
or trucks but as an area where owners of those trucks can park and
sell their products off the trucks. The car park belongs to a
company called Jae Krung Company (JKC), to whom the truck owners
pay daily rent. The products sold off the trucks are vegetable and
fruits. At the moment Nakhon Ping district is requesting the
individual truck owners to apply for Storage and Sales licenses so
that they can legally operate their businesses at the car park. It
is worth noting that the business license holding structure is
different at the Car Park Market in comparison to the Big Market
mentioned in the Fresh Market Owners section above. The Big Market
owners hold a license which allows the individual vendors who rent
space within the Big Markets to operate without having to hold any
licenses. But at the Car Park Market, the individual vendors/truck
owners have to apply and hold operating license for themselves.
5) Small Vendors:
These are street vendors who do not have a proper stall but
simply sell their products on the streets. These vendors are not
authorized to sell off the street but since this practice has been
done for a long time, it has become illegal but acceptable.
There
27 One such vendor is Mr. Sanan who rents two spaces/stands in
different areas of Muang Mai Market Company to sell pork meat. The
cost of the rent is 500 Baht/day for the two stands. Other expenses
include 500 Baht/day for ice, 850 Baht/day for staffs, water and
electricity usage. In total, his expenses are roughly 2,000
Baht/day. His profit is roughly 1,000 Baht per (one whole) pig. He
usually sells 6 pigs per day, which means total profit is normally
6,000 Baht/day. He mentioned that the business enabled him to put
his two children to university as well as to purchase a land and a
house.
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16
are a big number of the street vendors scattered around the
Muang Mai market area and they are often very poor. The combination
of historical practices, large number of vendors, and their poor
status have caused it to be very difficult for the Chiang Mai
municipality, Nakhon Ping District, and MMC to remove, discipline,
and organize these street vendors. In the attempt to improve
cleanliness and proper conduct of the small vendors, the
municipality implemented 2 measures: 1.The small/street vendors pay
a solid waste management fee of 20 to 30 Baht per day to the
municipality. 2. All small/street vendors have a one year probation
period (since beginning of 2015) with regards to proper conduct
such as; no blocking of the streets with their products and stands,
no discarding solid waste into sewerage line, drop their solid
waste at the central solid waste collection point; etc. The
small/street vendors who achieve the above measures consistently
and pass the probation period will be considered for issuance of an
official operating license.
Figure 6. Off the truck vendors
2.1.2. Private Roads/Infrastructure Although Muang Mai Market
Company (MMC) has sold a lot of its properties to other individual
owners and companies - the roads, drainage, and sewerage
infrastructure still belong to MMC. Therefore, when there is
flooding on the streets in the market or the drainage system is
blocked, the vendors and the municipality will complain/request for
MMC to solve the problem.
MMCs effort in maintaining and repairing the drainage is very
inefficient mainly due to the encroachment by the owners of
commercial buildings. These commercial building owners or vendors
do not only sell their products within the buildings but install
stands in front of the buildings covering the drainage system or
even pour concrete over the drainage to make an entrance from the
street to their shops blocking the drainage in the process.
Additionally, the solid waste and grease are discharged carelessly
into the drainage causing sedimentation and drainage blockage.
As the drainage becomes increasingly blocked throughout the
years of market operation, floods from rain and sewerage on the
market streets become a mainstay problem. MMC cannot access their
responsible streets to dredge, repair, and maintain the drainage
system due to encroachment and other activities mentioned
above.
There are other relevant concerns with regards to street
encroachment such as the fire brigade and ambulance not being able
to enter the area in case of fire or accidents.
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17
The private ownership of the roads/infrastructure also does not
encourage the local authorities to become more involved in solving
the problems. However, with regards to the building codes
regulation the Municipality Building Control Department should play
a stronger role in controlling commercial buildings to build
extended roofs, monitor the quality of waste water being released
into the sewerage line, as well as other regulations.
Figure 7. Picture showing extended roofs and stalls encroaching
the streets causing the streets to be very narrow and subsequently
generating traffic congestion
2.1.3. Hygienic situation
Well-nourished rats can be seen throughout the Muang Mai market.
Rats can be seen climbing up vendor stalls to feed on the scrape of
meat products etc. Rats are transmitters of (zoonotic) diseases
like the foot-and-mouth disease. Traditionally during the epidemic
outbreaks of the Black Death in the Middle Ages the rats were used
as transport hosts.
A number of migrant families (workers in the market) are living
under unhygienic conditions in residential buildings within the
market. These families have several people (including children and
pregnant women) living in one room. The badly maintained facilities
provided to them are communal toilets, washing basins and showers.
Food is being cooked on the corridor and wastage from cooking is
discharged into the same pipes as the sinks and showers. Many of
these foreign workers do not have a command of Thai language.
Food stalls are often not in compliance to the law which states
that food on the stalls must be at least 60 cm above the ground.
Additionally, the food is not stored in proper (cold) storages and
is susceptible to contamination and diseases.
There is no warm/hot water system in the market for the vendors
to wash their hands, dishes, and other utensils. One economical
solution maybe the installation of a small solar water heater on
top of the roof, along with rain water harvesting.
Another hygiene concern is the freezing and de-freezing of meat
and fish products. The selling process causes the vendors to often
freeze and de-freeze their meat and fish products. The vendors
remove the meat and fish from a freezer storage and arrange the
meat on top of the stalls for sales (de-freezing), some of the meat
and fish taken out from the freezer needs to be stored in temporary
storage (freezing using the ice box which does not have temperature
control mechanism), and at the end of the sales day, the meat and
fish which are not sold are put into the ice box (temporary
freezing) before they are then put back into the freezer
machine.
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18
This constant freezing and de-freezing may allow the bacteria to
grow on the meat and fish products and hence effect their quality
and hygiene.
Taking into consideration waste water flooding the streets, rats
contaminating food products, and workers and vendors living and
working in the above mentioned environment, it is apparent that
hygiene problems and health hazard28 should be at the forefront of
priorities.
Figure 8. Residential building for workers Figure 9. Food being
stored at ground level, close to drainage line
2.1.4. Waste water and solid waste management in the market
Waste Water Management: There is no functioning sewerage system in
the market. Intermittent rain can easily flood the market streets
due to blockage in the drainage system. One of the streets in the
market, as shown in the picture below, is constantly flooded with
waste water even without rain. Both the vendors and customers have
to endure the smell or come into contact with the contaminated
water while selling, buying, motorcycling or walking through the
street.
28 An article in the Bangkok Post on 13th December 2015,
reported that several vendors in markets in Thailand keep their
products fresh by soaking them with formalin. The large Klong Toey
fresh market in Bangkok is one of those markets where formalin is
found in seafood and other fresh products. It is highly likely that
vendors in Muang Mai Market are also selling products containing
formalin (knowingly or unknowingly), and the Municipality and
Provincial Public Health Department should do closer monitoring
with regards to formalin and food safety in general.
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19
Figure 10. Waste water flooding
Most commercial buildings in the market area installed septic
tanks which are made out of concrete. There are claims that these
septic tanks hardly get full, and therefore rarely get emptied.
While the authorized markets of MMC, MSC, and CNC are by law forced
to have waste water treatment systems, the only waste water
treatment system that could be noticed during the survey was the
recently constructed system (November 2015) by MMC in one of its
market areas adjacent to the Municipality. However, this waste
water treatment system is not yet connected to the municipality
main sewerage system due to pending authorization.
Figure 11. Decentralize waste water treatment system in MMC
fresh market area
Furthermore, there are no maps of the existing sewerage pipeline
network. Neither MMC who is the company that constructed the whole
area nor Chiang Mai Municipality has maps of the basic
infrastructure of the market.
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Solid waste management: Rim Doi Company Limited is a private
company contracted by the Municipality to collect the solid waste
in the Nakhorn Ping district which includes Muang Mai Market. The
company also collects solid wastes in other areas (Srivijaya,
Mengrai, and Kawila districts) within Chiangmai Municipality. The
company has 200 staffs and 50 trucks for garbage collection. The
total amount of garbage collected from the Municipality is 300 tons
per day.
At Muang Mai Market, there is one fixed collection point in the
market where Rim Dois garbage truck collects 17 tons of solid waste
once a day/night.
Rim Doi collects from the collection point and drops the 17 tons
of waste at the transfer station within the city located southwest
of the Walled City.
Figure 12. Solid Waste collection point, in front of the workers
residential building
Although there is a specific solid waste collection point where
the market vendors are supposed to individually drop their wastes ,
a lot of solid waste such as plastics, and the remains of
vegetable, meat products, seafood, as well as other dry products
are still discharged into the sewerage system. As a result, solid
waste is the main cause of sedimentation and blockage in the
sewerage system.
Figure 13. A small vendor blocking the drainage system with
vegetable products and solid waste
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2.2. Prevention and Mitigation measures implemented by
Governmental and Municipal bodies (ISOC, Health Department,
Sanitation Engineering Department, City Police, etc.)
Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC)
Since January 2015, ISOC together with the Province of Chiang
Mai and Chiang Mai University has joined hands in regulating the
streets in Muang Mai Market. ISOCs main goals in this initiative
are:
1 To encourage cleanliness within the market 2 To free up the
streets by protecting them from encroachments 3 To install
monitoring procedure to ensure that above practices remain.
ISOC has so far achieved the goals for one street which is a
public street adjacent to the Municipality. That particular street
has become cleaner and wider as the vendors are not allowed to put
products on the street which is regularly checked for
cleanliness.
ISOC planned to do a quality control of the market tidiness once
every three months but has already done it more than six times in
2015. There is a further plan by ISOC to implement the above
initiation in other streets of the market. However, ISOC also
admits that there is a challenge in bringing all the stakeholders
together and solve the various problems in the market.
GIZ Nexus intervention is welcomed by ISOC. ISOC leader, Colonel
Akaradet, advised the market vendor leaders to call all the members
of the market for a meeting to conclude that GIZ Nexus should study
in detail to explore the proper solution for Muang Mai Market. The
Colonel sees GIZ Nexus intervention as an opportunity for Muang Mai
Market to become the pilot project which can be scaled up to other
15 fresh markets under the supervision of Chiang Mai
Municipality.
Figure 14. Freed up market street, an initiative lead by
ISOC
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Municipality Health Department
The Municipality Public Health Departments mandates relevant to
the operation of Muang Mai Market are:
Public Health and Environmental Services 29
1. Plan and implement projects relevant to hygiene and
cleanliness 2. Plan and implement projects for the potential
transformation of waste water and solid
wastes 3. Solid waste separation in organizations, communities,
and business operations 4. Support and coordinate environment
awareness campaigns 5. Provision of public toilettes both mobile
and stationary toilettes 6. Monitoring and control of public
toilette services (which could be provided by both
public and private organizations) including relevant service
fees 7. Monitor and control the health and environmental standard
of business operations
especially the operations which are dangerous to public health
8. Monitor and control operations that involve food preparation and
sales of food to
follow regulations 9. Monitor and control operations that
produce and store food to follow standard and
relevant laws
Therefore the Municipality Public Health Department has
implemented several campaigns and cleaning activities at Muang Mai
Market such as the Big Cleaning Day implemented at the beginning of
2015.
The Department also performs monitoring and control of the Muang
Mai Market (only the licensed fresh market) twice a year to ensure
that the licensed fresh market follows their Attractive Fresh
Market standards (Annex 7: Assessment Form: Development and
Upscaling of Healthy Market). Moreover, as the municipality is
right next to Muang Mai market, the officers of the Public Health
Department visit the market for informal monitoring and control
several times per year.
The results of the above monitoring and control revealed that
the licensed fresh markets which belong to MMC, MSC, and CNC,
usually pass the applicable standards and are able to renew their
licenses annually.
The problem which the Department faces is the properness and
hygiene issues of the hundreds of commercial buildings, unlicensed
stalls, and street vendors, who according to the Department
officers are the major contributors to low standards in waste and
waste water management of Muang Mai Market.
It is obvious that several initiatives have been promoted and
implemented by the Department, however, those measures are short
term solutions. The Big Cleaning Day may help the streets to be
clean for a day or at most a couple of days but the dirt or waste
that they wash off the market streets goes into the already blocked
drainage system. Moreover, the question can be raised about why
those troublesome commercial buildings and unlicensed vendors are
being allowed to do business in the market. The issuance of
business licenses should be used in a stricter manner to control
those vendors.
29 Public Health and Environmental Services translated from
Chiang Mai Municipality website -
http://www.cmcity.go.th/cmcity/index.php/th/s-menu-detail4-th/92-g-cmunit-th/152-unit-health-th
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In addition, stricter quality control of the food sold at the
Muang Mai Market area should be implemented. The Provincial and
Municipal Public Health Department have implemented food quality
control campaigns such as Clean Cutting Board Certification (Kiang
Sa-ad Certification), in which the leftover meat is scraped off the
vendors cutting boards for testing by the officers, and if the meat
passes the quality control test, the vendors are then given the
certification. However, during the survey it was observed that
there was a fish swimming in the drainage line, food products being
stored near contaminated water, food products being prepared and
left on the floor. Rats can be seen running onto the vendor stalls
and cutting boards, and it is suspected that some of the meat and
seafood products might even contain formalin.
Municipality Sanitation Engineering Department
The Department is directly responsible for the monitoring and
control of waste water standards being released by buildings into
the central sewage line. Therefore, with regards to all buildings
within the Muang Mai market whether they are the licensed markets,
commercial buildings, or residential buildings, the Sanitation
Engineering Department is supposed to ensure that the owners of the
buildings treat their waste water up to the required standard prior
to releasing it into the central system. The Water Quality
Management Section (under the Sanitation Engineering Department)
does not have the budget, the man power, nor the equipment 30 to
test the quality of waste water being released from all the
individual buildings in the Maung Mai market area. The Municipality
should find a solution to this lack of resources, otherwise it will
be difficult to identify which building is not treating their waste
water before release.
After 40 years of operation, MMC has recently installed a
decentralized waste water treatment system at one of its market
areas (construction completed in January 2016). The newly installed
system is, however, pending the authorization from the municipality
to connect to the central sewerage system.
During the stakeholders meeting on the 30th November 2015, some
Muang Mai market representatives informed that some of the
commercial buildings (licensed and un-licensed) have installed
grease traps and waste water treatment systems (septic tanks).
However, it is assumed that the majority of the commercial
buildings including the workers residential building do not have
proper waste water treatment systems.
Again, stricter monitoring and control is required from the
Municipality both in terms of the standards of waste water being
released as well as the licenses for operation of these
buildings.
City Police (under the City Clerks Office)
The City Police oversees31 the properness of the streets in
Chiang Mai Municipality. This includes ensuring properness and
safety in and around market areas such as: that cars and trucks are
parked at the right place at the right time, the streets vendors
are selling in the right area at the right time, and other
monitoring and control issues with regards to peace and
security.
However, all of the above monitoring and control can only be
done on public streets and walkways. The City Police is therefore
reluctant to impose any sort of regulations over the street vendors
who are selling in Muang Mai market as the streets officially
belong to the
30 According to the Chiangmai Municipality Head of Water Quality
Management Section 31 City police tasks taken from Chiang Mai
Municipality official website:
http://www.cmcity.go.th/cmcity/index.php/th/home-th/92-g-cmunit-th/154-unit-clerk-th
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24
private firm MMC. MMC informed that City Police would be more
active if the ownership of the street is transferred to the
city.
Nevertheless, the City Police tries to regulate the small street
vendors who are selling on the Municipality street in Muang Mai
Market by allowing only vendors to continue to sell in the area if
they have proper conduct in terms of managing their own solid
waste, do not block the street with their products, and do not
discard or block the sewerage system.
2.3. Prevention and Mitigation measures implemented at another
Fresh market: Chang Puek Market
On the 4th February 2016, there was a meeting between Chiangmai
Fresh Market Association, Fresh Market representatives/owners, GIZ
Nexus team, and Chiangmai Municipality. The purpose of the meeting
was for GIZ Nexus team to find out about other fresh markets in
Chiang Mai and their waste water problems as well as the solutions
they have chosen. It was found that most fresh markets have waste
water problems or dysfunctional waste water treatment systems. As
the markets have to follow the standards of the Pollution Control
Department (PCD) with regards to the discharging treated waste
water into public sewerage or natural water ways, most of the fresh
market owners are seeking for a decentralized waste water treatment
system to bring their (treated) waste water up to the PCDs
standard. Waste water treatment technology that has been
implemented in one of the markets is the use of EM (Effective
Microorganism) solution. EM technology claims to be able to treat
waste water effectively or improve the performance of sanitation
systems.32 For the past 3 months, in Chang Puek fresh market, the
EM liquid solutions are used for improving the performance of the
wastewater treatment system, and removing the odor from the open
drainage within the market. Despite the claims made by
manufacturers, available studies which have used scientific methods
to investigate these additives have come to the conclusion that
long-term beneficial effects of the EM are not proven33. In other
words, EM can only be a temporary solution and not a long term,
sustainable solution.
Chang Puek market is located north of the Walled City on Chang
Puek road. It is a relatively smaller market to Muang Mai market.
It has around 100 vendors renting the spaces in the market. It is a
morning market which means that the market starts between 5 to 6 am
will close for the day by 2 to 3 pm. So both size wise and
operation time wise, Chang Puek market has less activities and
hence less solid waste and waste water than Muang Mai market.
Nevertheless, Chang Puek market is one of the licensed 16 fresh
markets within Chiang Mai Municipality jurisdiction and therefore
must follow the standards of the Healthy Market Assessment. Rule
number 40 in the assessment34 states that the treated waste water
from the market must pass the standards35 (of Pollution Control
Department), but Chang Puek market failed this standard due to very
high BOD value (Biological Oxygen Demand). Therefore, for the past
4 to 5 months the owner of the market has been searching and
implemented an affordable solution (but perhaps not a long term
solution) by using Effective Micro organism (EM) treatment of waste
water as well as basic charcoal filtering system to prevent smell
and filter out some solid waste. Grease traps are also installed at
the vendor stalls that cook and sell food. The vendors also must
use the Micro Organism cleaning solution
32 EM technology:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_microorganism 33 EM
technology: http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/2162
34 Assessment Form: Development and Upscaling of Healthy Market
(Annex 7) 35 PCDs Standard of treated waste water
http://www.pcd.go.th/info_serv/reg_std_water04.html#s3
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25
to clean their stalls and utensils36, and the floor cleaners
must use the same to clean the market floor. As a result, the smell
of waste water within the market is reduced greatly, in fact during
the site visit the team could not smell anything from the waste
water apart from the toilette area. The BOD value of the waste
water treated by the Micro Organism system is also reduced and
meets the standard. Although the context of Chang Puek market is
different from Muang Mai market because there is only one licensed
owner, smaller market, and less operation time, and the technology
applied still needs verification on health and safety issues as
well as sustainability, but the market is commendable for the
commitment of the owner, cooperation (voluntary or enforced) from
the vendors, and technology providers know how in technical and
implementation issues.
2.4. Muang Mai Market Stakeholder Consultation and Stakeholder
Mapping
GIZ Nexus project promotes a participatory approach and prior to
the site survey of Maung Mai Market, stakeholders of Muang Mai
market were invited to join a meeting in the afternoon of the 30th
November 2015. The meeting allowed for the discussion of current
problems at the market which were expressed through the views of
different stakeholders ranging from: Internal Security Operations
Command (ISOC), Chiang Mai University (CMU), Chiang Mai
Municipality, Market vendors representatives, Chiang Mai Fresh
Market Association, etc.
Some expressed their concerns about the foreign workers who
discard solid waste into the sewerage system, while others informed
that the main concern is the commercial buildings and their
encroachment. However, the unanimous conclusion was there is a big
problem with waste water management in the market and a sustainable
solution is required.
After the site survey was conducted by GIZ Nexus, the
stakeholders once again reconvened for a debriefing on the 3rd
December 2015 to discuss the preliminary findings and agreed on the
steps forward.
As the stakeholders map in Figure 15 below shows, there are
various stakeholders of Muang Mai market.There is a complex
inter-relationship between all the stakeholders. While some
stakeholders are looking at the waste water problems from a micro
perspective such as the vendors, workers, street cleaners, etc who
directly contribute to the discharging of solid and organic waste
into the sewerage line in Muang Mai market, other stakeholders such
as ISOC, Provincial Office, and Chiang Mai University, are looking
at a macro perspective which is how to clean up the Mae Kha Canal,
create better environment for Chiangmai people, and attract even
more tourism into the city. Therefore, the problem of waste water
management in Muang Mai market does not only require a technical
but a governance solution as well.
All stakeholders should be prepared to commit and contribute in
order to receive mutual benefits. For example, some of the vendors
should be aware that during the construction of a new (vacuum)
sewerage line, they will have to stop selling for a couple of
weeks; the municipality should be able to confront the
vendors/commercial buildings with strict regulations for their
waste water problems and business operation licenses; ISOC and
Provincial Office are to provide clear directions and support for
financing the project by working with the Central Government;
etc.
36 Information provided by Ms. Krapook, Chang Puek market owner
during a meeting with GIZ Nexus team, Chiangmai Municipality, Fresh
Market Association, and other market representatives on 4th
February 2016
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26
Figure 15 Stakeholders Map of Muang Mai Market
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27
3. THE NEXUS APPROACH AND PROVISIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS The rapid
urbanisation of the Asia-Pacific region entails the risk of
widening supply gaps, in particular for water supply and sanitation
systems, energy, land-use and food security. However, the majority
of cities/municipal administrations and utilities in Asia-Pacific
continue to plan and manage along sectorial lines and within
municipal boundaries, and rarely in a coordinated and integrative
manner. Consequently, they are not able to fully utilise the
interaction and synergies between water, energy and food security
and the potential co-benefits arising from integrated resource
management and planning for cities and their regions. It is
increasingly evident that the resource footprint of cities, as well
as ecosystem boundaries, transcend administrative boundaries,
calling for coordination across actors and institutions. The need
for integrated planning requires a multi-disciplinary approach as
well as effective and dynamic governance. The nexus approach aims
at integrated planning and management processes of the key sectors
of energy, water and food security, and this can contribute
substantially to the long-term sustainable development of rapidly
growing cities and their regions. It is crucial, in this context,
to involve municipal and regional actors and utilities towards more
integrated planning and management of the nexus sectors. To respond
to these needs, the Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) are implementing
the project Integrated resource management in Asian Cities: the
urban nexus, financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project supports ten cities
in six countries, namely: China (Banan, Weifang, Rizhao), Indonesia
(Pekanbaru, Tanjungpinang), Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar), Philippines
(Santa Rosa, Naga City), Thailand (Chiang Mai, Korat) and Viet Nam
(Da Nang). Initially, the project is targeting the local level, by
providing technical advice to municipal administrations/planning
offices through international and national experts and by
facilitating the establishment of Nexus Task Forces. The project
oversees the design, planning and, where possible, implementation
of practical nexus initiatives (with a focus on water, energy
and/or food security) and at the same time seeks to feed the
experiences gained at the local level into a national and regional
dialogue and learning platform to achieve a pooling of knowledge
and the potential for synergies in action. This will lay the
foundation for a regional and national scaling-up of the nexus
approach. In addition to mainstreaming nexus principles and
know-how into the regions institutions, stakeholders from municipal
administrations, research institutes, networks and non-governmental
organisations are supported with regard to human capacity
development with a view to embedding new professional and
management competences and capacities across these institutions.
GIZ Nexus project sees the waste water problem in Muang Mai market
as an opportunity to disseminate the Nexus approach in both the
technical aspect (waste water to energy) as well as governance
aspect (vertical and horizontal integration of several
stakeholders). The provisional recommendation is that all
stakeholders should be involved in order to solve the problem and
that the solution is not only technical. It requires the governance
related solution as well such as:
Market Management System with clear organizational structure and
sanction mechanisms
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28
There has to be collaboration between the market place owners
and the owners of the commercial buildings- structured/organized
collaboration on basis of enforced rules & regulations
Compliance with rules & regulations is required (rule of the
law), i.e. regulatory measures/regulatory force for the benefit of
all
Otherwise all will lose if there is a structured cooperation
with sanctions in case of
non-compliance, it will be a win-win situation for all who are
well-intentioned.
Confrontation is required in order to move forward; avoiding
confrontation by all means will not help in the long run
The six days37 preliminary study has found that all stakeholders
are ready to cooperate and even invest - to improve the quality and
hygiene of the market on the basis of a comprehensive concept to be
implemented consequently. The provisional recommendation with
regards to technical solutions is discussed in the next
section.
37 The study periods: 30th November to 3rd December 2015, and
3rd February to 5th February 2016
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4. THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGICAL APPROACH (REUSE OF WATER,
NUTRIENTS, AND ENERGY PRODUCTION)
4.1. Objective
The aim of the project is to improve the sanitation conditions
in Muang Mai Market by improved drainage, wastewater collection and
treatment services in order to ameliorate the hygienic conditions
and upgrade the working and living conditions of the people
involved in the market.
In order to find an adequate solution for sustainable wastewater
treatment for Muang Mai Market, the GIZ Nexus Project promotes
wastewater vacuum sewerage system, which is not requiring a gravity
slope. This is the most effective solution for managing wastewater
in flat terrain, with little open space. Through the closed system,
the waste water can be treated by a decentralized system before
being released into natural water way or the Mae Kha Canal. The
treated water can be used to flush the Mae Kha Canal and the moat
of the old city, or at least can be used to dilute the polluted
water in the canal and the city moat. If the waste water contains
high organic value, it could be processed to produce energy
required to run the treatment plant. The residues, in case of
treatment sur-place in a bio digester can be processed into
fertilizer for soil conditioning.
4.2. Technological description of a vacuum sewer
Vacuum sewer is a mechanized system of wastewater transport.
Unlike gravity flow, the system uses the differential air pressure
between atmospheric pressure and a partial vacuum maintained in the
sewer piping network to permit wastewater to be transported to a
vacuum station (collection point). Depending on the terrain and
local conditions, the differential pressure can allow a single
vacuum station to collect wastewater from a big number of
individual buildings (diameter of 4 km). It is a completely sealed
system (no exfiltration) apt in particular for flat, flood prone
areas with a high water table and little space for pipe laying. It
moreover requires less construction time, hence less constructions
costs and reduced inconvenience for the population because of
flexible pipe routing and fluctuating flows. It is considered a
low-cost technology in comparison to gravity sewer.
The vacuum sewer system operates as follows:
Wastewater is drained from the building to a vacuum collection
chamber by gravity. The vacuum collection chambers serve as an
interface between the gravity pipe from
the buildings and the vacuum sewer network. The wastewater is
collected in the sump of the vacuum collection chamber. The
wastewater is evacuated from the sump through a membrane vacuum
valve and transported through the vacuum sewer network to the
vacuum station.
At the vacuum station the wastewater is collected in the vacuum
tank and then discharged via pressure pumps to its final
destination (existing sewer, holding tanks or treatment
plants).
Vacuum sewer collection is, as pointed out above, a separate
system (storm water and wastewater drainage are separated) whereas
the gravity system practiced in Thailand up to now is a combined
system (storm water and wastewater drainage are combined) only
making use of the affluent of the septic tanks with low organic
loading and diluted water reaching the wastewater treatment plants
(WWTP).
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4.2.1. Design standard
As there is no design standard in Thailand yet for vacuum sewer,
the DIN EN 1091 Vacuum Sewerage Systems Outside Buildings (February
1997) and DWA-A 116-1E Special Sewerage Systems (Part 1: Vacuum
Sewerage Systems Outside Buildings) (March 2005) could be used (see
Annex 5).38
4.2.2. Advantages of vacuum sewer system
Within the conventional system based on gravity sewer, pumping
and an expensive channelling system of concrete pipes with
diameters of 150-200 mm including manholes a separated wastewater
and storm water drainage system is not affordable for the majority
of the urban centers. Moreover, the conventional wastewater
treatment system requires huge areas of land for conventional
wastewater treatment plants with extensive ponds. The ponds are
emitters of methane (MH4) which has a negative impact on the
climate 25 times higher than CO2 (ecological foot print).
The vacuum sewer system is an approach allowing financially
feasible and technically sound separated storm water and wastewater
drainage. It is the wastewater management system with the lowest
ecological footprint.
Major advantages of vacuum sewerage are:
Contained system: no leakages, no ex-/infiltration, no smell
nuisance, no overflowing during rainy season;
Shallow and small trenches, dramatically reduced excavation
work, saving of construction time/cost;
Small diameter HDPE pipes (d90-d250), little impact on local
traffic; No sedimentation/clogging, self-cleaning due to high
velocity of wastewater
transport > 5m/s; Centralized vacuum station instead of many
lift stations and manholes; No electrical connections/ energy
consumption, except at vacuum station; Reduced maintenance/
operational costs.
Pipes lying in trench 38 Using authorized translation into
Thai.
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4.2.3. Comparison between vacuum system and septic tank system
In the following a systematic comparison of vacuum sewerage and the
septic tank system is given: VACUUM SEWERAGE SEPTIC TANK Completely
tight, contained system no risk of smell along houses and pipe
network
Open system real smell nuisance
No exfiltration possible Protection of groundwater
Pollution of groundwater risk of infection exfiltration from
septic tanks into the surrounding due to fissures and/or cracks in
concrete or brick walls
Continuous aeration of the system less gas is developed
Anaerobic processes gases are produced and must be vented
(air-outlet with filter)
System is still functioning when certain solids (napkins, food
items, small toys, etc.) are contained in wastewater
Sensitive system foreign objects/solids are greatly reducing the
efficiency of the septic tank
High flow capacity and velocity No fresh water required for
flushing/ cleaning
Excess load (when more people are in the house) could result in
materials moving through the system too quickly to be decomposed
blocking may occur and cleaning becomes necessary
Little space required for collection chamber Some cubic meters
of space required close to each house
Centralized maintenance at vacuum station only
De-central maintenance at every house necessary. Risk that
professional maintenance cannot be guaranteed
Full control of the flows and system Fully de-centralized
control almost impossible (or at very high cost)
No contact with effluents during maintenance
Tank has to be opened when maintained contact with effluents for
maintenance personnel
No maintenance needed for the collection chambers. Annual
control only
Tanks have to be cleaned and emptied frequently by vacuum
cleaning system
No dependence on external circumstances Purification effect
varying depending on many external circumstances
No contamination of surroundings and/or groundwater combined
laying of potable water pipe and vacuum sewer in one trench
possible to save costs
Direct contamination of surroundings and groundwater in case of
overflowing (rainy season)
Independence from gravity slope Always slope between house
outlet and septic tank required
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Sewer and water pipes can be laid in a common trench
4.2.4. Bio waste Grinder
Bio waste Grinder is processed alongside domestic wastewater
The vendor stalls is equipped with an common appliance for
shredding bio waste.
Installed nearby meat vendor stalls, adds shredded bio waste to
the wastewater outflow
Main advantage of treating wastewater and bio waste
together:
No hygienic problems or odor from waste containers The organic
waste substantially increases the biogas
yield of the wastewater treatment plant Higher volume of
biogas
RoeVac Vacuum Sewer Systems
Vacuum Sewer Pipe
Water Pipe
Storm Water Pipe
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4.3. Components and outputs 4.3.1. Proposed design of vacuum
sewer network (The design will be completed once the detail
engineering study is done in 2016)
Muang Mai Market: Proposed Vacuum Sewerage System
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4.3.2. Energy consumption
The energy consumption of a vacuum sewer system is lower than
energy consumption within a gravity sewer system. The required
pumps start off from the vacuum station and only pump after the
under pressure in the pipes reaches 0,8 bar (every 3-4 hours).
Gravity sewer pumps have to pump continuously. In case of power
outrage the vacuum collection system continues functioning for up
to 3-4 hours. It is assumed that power outages are normally solved
within the given time frame of 3-4 hours in Chiang Mai. It is also
possible to install a battery-backup which gives an additional 2-3
hour service time.
In comparison to the conventional gravity system there is at
least a buffer of 3-4 hours keeping the system functional. That is
not the case with the conventional gravity system if power cuts
occur. In the gravity system there will be an overflow once there
is no electricity as the pumps in the lifting stations have to
continuously pump the wastewater to a higher level.
4.3.3. Location for vacuum station
The required space for the location of the vacuum station and
decentralized WWTP is a maximum of 100 m2 of plot area ideally
owned by Chiang Mai Municipality in order to avoid lengthy
negotiations with residents owning plots for the proposed location.
It would be most recommendable to have it installed near to the
pilot area for the time being. It would be designed together with a
wastewater treatment plant.
The land which has been identified as potential site for
installing the vacuum station and the decentralized treatment plant
is the land at Nakhon Ping District office; near to the old water
tower.
Figure 16 Potential government land for vacuum station and
decentralized WWTP
4.3.4. Transfer of technology
The operating staff would be trained during the installation
(on-the-job) of the system and hence would be able to operate the
system. It is very easy to handle for staff already dealing with
wastewater issues and requires no additional or special knowledge
apart from the on-the-job training.
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WATERCOURSE 39 partnering with Bilfinger Water Technologies GmbH
in Germany will provide a warranty of one year after date of
commissioning and guarantee immediate support in case of problems
in operating the system occur.
Only the valve-membranes would be changed every 5-6 years (THB
456, EUR 12 p. piece) and provided by Bilfinger Water Technologies
GmbH. The rest of the equipment is available on the Thai market.
The vacuum chambers are maintenance-free (there are no electrical
connections in the chamber) and the vacuum station requires usual
maintenance as for any other pump/electrical system used in
conventional wastewater systems.
As WATERCOURSE is the official representative of Bilfinger Water
Technologies GmbH, the provision of the valve-membranes and the
maintenance of the vacuum station after the warranty period will be
guaranteed through a service-agreement between WATERCOURSE/
Bilfinger and Chiang Mai City.
4.4. Cost calculations
As part of the GIZ detail study in Muang Mai Market in 2016, the
cost calculations will be done and presented in due course.
4.5. Comparing investment: Vacuum technology VS gravity
system
Basically the vacuum sewer system is more cost-efficient than
the conventional gravity system as only shallow and small trenches
are required, i.e. dramatically reduced excavation work, the pipes
only have a diameter of 90-250 mm, and there is no electrical
connection except at the vacuum station.
With regard to operational costs the vacuum sewer collection
system is also more economical as one requires only a centralized
vacuum station instead of many lift stations and manholes, there is
no electrical connection except at the vacuum station, there is no
sedimentation and clogging, as it is a self-cleaning system due to
high velocity of wastewater transport (5 m/s). Leakages can be
easily detected and repaired, overflowing is not possible as the
system is completely contained, and no in-filtration or
ex-filtration is possible.
However, as citizens nowadays have to build their own septic
tanks and bear the respective costs, we recommend that in future,
once the vacuum sewer collection system is installed, a new
regulation with regard to collecting fees from the citizens by the
local government should be introduced to start (re-)covering the
wastewater treatment costs. Moreover, a compulsory connection
regulation for citizens should be enacted to make the system become
effective and pay off.
4.6. Risks and operational problems
If the vacuum sewer collection system is installed properly,
there should be no further risk. The operating staff would be
trained during the installation of the system and hence would be
able to operate the system. It is very easy to handle for staff
already dealing with wastewater issues. There would be hardly any
odor while transporting the wastewater through the vacuum sewer to
the treatment plant. The treatment plants are anyway covered to
reduce the odor, so no additional odor should occur at the
treatment plant.
39 Watercourse Co., Ltd., 24/169 R103, Soi Pibulsongkram 15,
Pibolsongkram Rd., Suan Yai, Muang Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand
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In case of power outage the vacuum collection system continues
functioning for up to 3-4 hours. Thereafter, flushing of toilets
comes to an end. However, we assume the power outages are normally
solved within the given time frame of 3-4 hours in Chiang Mai. It
is also possible to install a battery-backup which gives an
additional 2-3 hour service time. In comparison to the conventional
gravity system, there is at least a buffer of 3-4 hours keeping the
system functional. That is not the case with the conventional
gravity system if power cuts occur. The gravity system immediately
stops functioning once there is no electricity, as the pumps have
to continuously pump the wastewater. With the vacuum sewer
collection system there is no electrical connection except at
vacuum station.
5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GIZ support to Chiang Mai Municipality
concentrates on the following areas:
Organization of practical technical training on vacuum sewerage
system for staff from the Wastewater Department of Chiang Mai
Municipality (February 2015)
Preliminary Muang Mai Market surveys (December 2015 and February
2016) Community consultation and awareness creation for
beneficiaries (December 2015) Detail Survey on wastewater
management in Muang Mai Market (TBD) and
elaboration of feasibility study on vacuum sewerage system
including cost calculation and comparison with gravity sewer
(TBD)
Design standard issues (translation of EN 1091 from English to
Thai) and certification of technology (Refer to Annex 5)
Project presentation to stakeholders Preparation of technical
specifications Support in efforts to mobilize funds for
implementation Advisory service including supervision of
construction works On-job-training of workers in different trades
during implementation Monitoring & evaluation Analysis of
beneficiary/user satisfaction Selection and study of extension area
for upscaling Advisory service with regard to new fees regulation
for wastewater (connection fee,
tariff 40, etc.)
6. CONCLUSION Muang Mai Market has severe problems in term of
waste water management. It is effecting the working and living
standards of the people in the market. Although all stakeholders
agree that the problem should be solved, the solution is not only a
technical one. It requires an all stakeholders commitment under the
guidance and facilitation of Chaingmai Municipality. On the
governance side of the solution, one of the aspects that can be
improved is the regulation enforcement, especially in terms of
business licenses, taxes and tariffs, and municipal laws (by laws).
There should be a stricter process in application and granting of
the fresh market license and storage and sales license. The big
market owners as well as the
40 Connection from the fresh markets (MMC, MSC, CNC) and
commercial buildings to the vacuum sewer line should be made
obligatory by a regulation combined with charging of fees. The
tariff should consider a unified, consumption-oriented tariff for
water and wastewater assuming that 80% of the water consumed is
transformed into wastewater. However, given the institutional
arrangements, up to now water fees are collected by the provincial
government while wastewater fees would be collected by Chiang Mai
Municipality after approval of provincial government. However, a
consumption-oriented wastewater tariff can only be defined through
measured water consumption.
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commercial buildings who do not comply with the PCD waste water
standards should not be able to obtain or retain the licenses. In
addition to the annual renewal fee of the fresh market license and
storage and sales license, there are several (municipal) taxes
which the business operators (big market owners and commercial
building owners) are required to pay, such as: land and building
tax, local maintenance tax, and sign tax 41. However, these tax
charges are minimal. For example, an owner of 1 Rai or 1,600 sm2
piece of land pays only 70 Baht (2 USD) per year for the local
maintenance tax. Therefore, a tax structure relevant to the waste
water production and treatment could be a part of the governance
solution for Muang Mai market. Furthermore, by mandate,
Municipalities are responsible for the monitoring and control of
the buildings as well as ensuring the well-being of the public
health42. Municipalities are also able to pass by-laws or Municipal
laws if required for better management of the city. Therefore,
although several parts (including some roads and sewerage lines) of
Muang Mai market are private areas, these by-laws could be
established and used to monitor and control waste water management
in Muang Mai market area. On the technical side of the solution,
the grease trap, septic tanks, and EM application are not
sufficient to solve the was