Abstract
Ronpiboon subdistrict, Ronpiboon district, Nakorn Srithammara Province, Southern Thailand consists of 16 villages. These villages are well known as high prevalence of well water contaminated with arsenic. The piped water supplied among this area were from 5 lines: Provincial Waterworks Authority, village artesian, Wangsilaruk, Khlong Khunpung and Ronna-mountain piped line, respectively. The aim of this research is to analyze the rainwater and piped water quality in high-risk area of arsenic poisoning in the Ronpiboon district. Arsenic levels in every piped water system in village 1,2,7,12, 13 and 15 were examined. In villages 2, 12 and 13, 50% of households were sampled, while in villages 1, 7 and 15, 25% of household were sampled. The samples were collected 3 times a year and examined for arsenic level by using AAS at Ronpiboon hospital. Quality control and assurance was performed by the Medical Science Department, Ministry of Public Health . Data were analyzed using Epi Info version 6. The contamination of arsenic levels in drinking water were followed the standard criteria according to WHO definition (< 10 ppb). There were 904 samples collected, the majority was from rainwater (97.8%). In this study we found that arsenic levels in all samples of rainwater, from Provincial Waterworks Authority, Khlong Khunpung and artesian piped water was not higher than the standard level while all samples from Wangsilaruk and Ronna-mountain piped water were found to have arsenic levels higher than the standard. In conclusion, rainwater, Provincial Waterworks Authority, village artesian and Khlong Khunpung piped water was safe for drinking. Mountain and Wangsilaruk piped water were found to be not safe for consumption. The implementation from this study is that the government and local administrative organization should cooperate to set up a plan for water use of the villagers. These including having piped water areas and plateau areas which hold containers for collecting rainwater that are big enough to last for a whole year. Villagers should be informed of water testing laboratories in their area which can examine arsenic levels especially when changing to other sources of water
