Harnessing Water Quality Management through Environmental Education Approach (Case Study of LERD Project, Phetchaburi-Thailand)

Abstract

Although water is known as an integral part of the ecosystem with enormous importance to both flora and fauna, its pollution still remains one of the most predominant environmental issues globally with much emphasis in Thailand. Above all, water contamination is also associated with health impacts such as cholera, hepatitis A, dysentery among others. Therefore, the call for effective water management cannot be over-emphasized in order to facilitate the achievement of SDG 6 (to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030). As a result of the aforementioned, this work focuses on the application of oxidation pond method of municipal wastewater treatment combined with environmental education in the management and improvement of water resources in Thailand. The LERD Project which was established by Late HRM King Bhumibol in Phetchaburi province of Thailand uses locally available resources in the treatment of municipal wastewater which results in efficiency rate of 50-70% with the capacity of treating 10,000cm3 of wastewater daily. As a means to propagate the in-depth knowledge of this successful project to a wider audience and to achieve behavioral change, selected international school students and teachers were used as target group. The findings indicate that there was a significant difference in the students’ environmental knowledge, attitudes, skills and behavior prior and after the program while the control group recorded no significant difference with p values of 0.569, 0.097, 0.250, and 0.864 respectively. 89% of the participants believe that environmental education is effective in water quality management.