#proudLEO and #LeoLegacy LEO Club  Phrae
Channel: สโมสรไลออนส์สากลภาครวม 310 ประเทศไทย
Date: 2021-10-19

The moat along the ancient wall of Phrae city was canalized more than 500 years ago to protect the city from invasion. It is now served not only as a tourist destination, but also  as a local venue for festive ceremonies. But more importantly, it is the lung of Phrae that local people spend their mornings and afternoons for leisure, for example, walking, exercising, et cetera. 

About 6 to 7 months ago, the water in the moat was polluted due to the broken pumps for water circulation and because of severe drought lasted for months. The water then turned dark, smelly with lots of dead fish. We were aware of how serious this environmental problem was. So, we started to survey and work closely with the Eco Center in Phrae to find a solution. Firstly, we put water hyacinth into the water hoping that the plant would eat up the organic substance that caused the pollution. The experiment turned out very successful. It did improve the water quality as measured by the dissolved oxygen in the water or the DO value.

Unfortunately, because of the high fertilization of water hyacinth, they quicky grew and covered the surface of the moat and blocked the waterway between the moat and the river.  Therefore, we did not receive a lot of support about this.

However, we never gave up. After several trials and errors, we finally found a solution to the spread of the plant. We put a floating basket that kept the growing water hyacinth in place. And when the basket was full, we took the plants out, and sold them as animal feed. 

During our experiment with the floating basket, this had attracted the interest of the local people who firstly just noticed but gradually started asking questions.  And with the positive tangible outcomes, they finally joined us in our activities. It was the turning point that made our project successful. Because we are giving what the locals actually need!

But more importantly, now the local people are aware of who we are and what we do. The project was not simply putting some plant into the water, but we have also planted our good Lions and Leo’s image into our community! 

This is our success story, this is our service legacy that we will continue to serve our community!