Bangkok , Thailand ( CNN ) -- The commercial heart of Thailand 's capital is still at risk of flooding , with the next 10 days likely to be crucial in the battle to keep dry . So far the Central Business District , or CBD , has been shielded by a series of flood defenses backed up by huge pumps which suck the floodwater seeping down from the north of the city into the canals . From here the water is funneled into the main Chao Phraya River , where officials say it then fans out toward the sea . Floods in Thailand have killed more than 500 people since July , affecting about a third of the nation 's 77 provinces . The country of 67 million is also home to electronics manufacturing and automotive companies that have had to stop production because of the flooding , causing a ripple effect through the industry . According to Seri Supparathit , a water engineer who has acted as consultant for the government during the crisis , Bangkok 's central business district will survive the watery onslaught as long as the pumps keep working . `` If we can maintain the system for the next 10 days , then we can keep the CBD free from floods , '' he said . `` But if the pumps break down , we could see more major flooding . We do n't know the condition of the pumps . '' Supparathit added that China and Japan have now provided pumps as well as valuable expertise . The pumping stations are the front line in this war against the filthy torrent . The giant pumps sit at the side of canals on the fringes of central Bangkok , acting as the boundaries between the dry land on one side and the flood-hit city on the other . The business . Aside from the huge volume of water , those manning the pumps 24 hours a day have their hands full clearing out huge amounts of debris floating into the system and threatening to clog it up . It 's back-breaking work as city workers carry baskets full of foul-smelling rubbish to the convoy of trucks pulling up nearby . `` The system has n't broken yet , '' said one of the workers optimistically when asked how the pumps were holding up . According to Bangkok 's Irrigation Department , this year 's devastating floods in northern Thailand created an estimated 14 billion cubic meters of run-off . The Bangkok Post quoted spokesman Boonsanong Suchatpong as saying about three billion cubic meters of this water is in the Chao Phraya River , with 3.5 billion cubic meters in the fields in the central provinces north of Bangkok . The rest , he said , has penetrated flood walls and inundated many parts of the capital -- with depths of up to three meters ( 9.8 feet ) reported in northern districts , such as Rangsit and Lumlukka . But with about 400 million cubic meters of water being drained into the sea every day , the floodwater could be drained out of the capital in 11 days , he said . Despite this optimism , the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is throwing up more flood barriers to protect the center of the city . A system of half-ton sandbags known as `` Big Bag '' dikes stretching 6 kilometers ( 3.72 miles ) is almost complete along the main Rangsit Muang Ek road , which snakes out to the north of Bangkok . But Supparathit warned that some angry residents in the worst-hit areas of northern Bangkok have been destroying flood barriers because they feel their districts have been sacrificed to protect the CBD . `` Upstream the flood level is three meters , while further downstream it is less than 0.5 meters ( 1.6 feet ) , '' he explained . `` So the people upstream say this is unfair for them . '' He said these people needed better information from the government . Earlier this week , Prime Minister Yingluk Shinawatra appealed for people to consider their actions . `` Please do n't destroy the big-bag dike and other barriers , '' Yingluck wrote on her official Facebook page . `` Please think about the overall benefit so we can get through this problem together . '' `` But what should we do ? '' asked Romeo Romei , a factory owner from Rangsit . `` We are just left to deal with water that is going nowhere . '' Many Bangkok residents opted to to defy government advice to evacuate and remained behind to protect their homes . As a result they are worried about tainted water , disease and sanitation , as massive piles of garbage stack up around them . Tide marks on the walls of many of their houses in this part of the city show that the water level has dropped only slightly in almost a month , which suggests the 11-day prediction for the floodwaters to drain out of Bangkok may be ambitious . `` It will take at least a month , '' said Supparathit of Thailand 's worst floods in 50 years . But that of course depends on those mighty pumps .
A series of flood defenses are preventing flooding in Bangkok 's central business district . Thailand 's worst flooding in 40 years has devastated outlying parts of the city . Angry residents in north Bangkok say neighborhoods sacrificed for ` ` CBD '' ' : Predictions that water will be drained from Bangkok in 30 days too optimistic .