Urgent Repairs Needed for Flooded Samut Sakhon Pumps
Flooded pumps at two drainage gates in Samut Sakhon threaten homes and farmland with severe inundation unless urgent repairs are completed before heavy rains worsen water levels.
Residents in Samut Sakhon are pressing for urgent repairs to irrigation pumps at Klong Di 4 and Klong Di 3 drainage gates, fearing severe flooding of homes and farmland if repairs are delayed.
On September 16, local leaders, community representatives, and officials from Ban Phraew Subdistrict Administration and Irrigation Project Office 13—which oversees the two drainage gates in Roengkha and Ban Phraew subdistricts—discovered that both gates are malfunctioning. At Klong Di 4, a system fault has left all four pumps non-operational. At Klong Di 3, three of four debris-filter panels are damaged, leaving only one pump functional; the others cannot operate due to missing filter screens.
If the gates cannot function normally, multiple areas in both subdistricts—containing homes and farmland—face flooding and damage. Because heavy rain is falling daily and high tides prevent the gates from opening continuously, pumping is the only viable solution to discharge trapped water to the sea during high tide periods. With pumps down, water cannot drain.
Residents report enduring flooded roads and homes for weeks, with water levels fluctuating as rain falls and recedes, sometimes reaching 30-40 centimeters. Previously, when two pumps at Klong Di 4 were operational, conditions eased somewhat. But in the last two days all pumps have failed, and water is rising again.
Local leaders say repairs would provide relief, but delaying fixes risks severe and prolonged flooding, especially affecting schoolchildren and workers commuting daily. Residents fear that if heavy rain continues for several more days without repairs to both drainage gates, water levels could rise so high that travel in and out becomes impossible.
As a short-term measure under discussion with irrigation officials, leaders plan to request two 16-inch Phi Naka pump trucks from Samut Sakhon Provincial Administration to install at Klong Di 4 and begin continuous water extraction while awaiting repairs to the main pumping systems by Irrigation Project Office 13 staff. Residents urgently hope officials will expedite repairs to help residents of Roengkha and Ban Phraew subdistricts.
