The water supplier also appointed Nguyen Xuan Quy as general director, replacing Ton, local media reports said.

The water pollution incident has disrupted the daily routine of thousands of households in Hanoi City.

Earlier, on October 8, a truck dumped waste oil in Phu Minh Commune in Hoa Binh Province’s Ky Son District. The oil was washed by the rain into Dam Bai Lake, which supplies crude water to Viwasupco.

On being notified of the incident by local residents, Hoa Binh Province police directed the competent agencies and the police of Ky Son District to conduct an investigation and take water samples for testing.

Based on the evidence gathered, on October 16, Ky Son District police started a criminal investigation to find those who had “caused environmental pollution,” in line with the 2015 Penal Code.

During the investigation, the Hoa Binh police identified the suspects who had allegedly dumped the waste oil into the Da River, polluting fresh water supplied to hundreds of thousands of people in Hanoi City.

Police arrested Nguyen Chuong Dai, 25, from Bac Ninh Province; Hoang Van Tham, 33, from Lang Son Province; and Ly Dinh Vu, 37, from Bac Ninh Province for their alleged involvement in illegally dumping oil into the river.

Recently, the Hanoi government stated that the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment has submitted a report on the water discharge from reservoirs owned by Viwasupco.

According to the report, the firm has two reservoirs with a storage capacity of 30,000 cubic meters each in Thanh That District’s Yen Binh Commune. The two reservoirs store fresh water that flows into the firm’s plant and the Tay Mo pumping station in Nam Tu Liem District.

Following the incident, on October 9, Song Da Water Investment Company suspended water supplies to the reservoirs. On October 18, given the test results on the quality of the water, the firm discharged water from the two reservoirs and cleaned them without using chemicals.

The municipal department confirmed that the volume of water discharged into the environment amounted to 2,500-3,000 cubic meters, adding that the firm had failed to inform residents or the authorities that it had washed the reservoirs. SGT

Hanoi's water plant releases raw sewage after water crisis

The Da River water plant was found to have flushed thousands of cubic metres of raw wastewater used to cleanse their tanks to the environment, days after it was involved in a polluted water scandal, reported Hanoi's environment authority.

Hanoi chairman discusses liability for water pollution incident

Nguyen Duc Chung, chairman of Hanoi City’s government, on behalf of the municipal leaders, has pledged to learn from past mistakes in handling the water contamination incident involving the Da River.  

Hanoi strengthens water testing after Da River pollution crisis

The chairman of Hanoi People's Committee, Nguyen Duc Chung, has directed city’s Health Department to test multiple water samples every day and report to city leaders and publicise the results to local citizens.