VietNamNet Bridge – A shortage of clean water has affected residents, restaurants, offices and businesses in several parts of Ha Noi due to a broken pipeline from the Da River Water Supply Plant.

Residents collect clean water on Ha Noi's Hoang Cau Street. Hanoians are seeing a shortage of clean water due to a broken pipeline -- Photo: VNS

And it is likely that the situation will not be completely rectified until a second pipeline is built from the Da River. Work is expected to start in October and be finished next year.

The existing pipeline, which normally delivers up to over 500,000 cubic metres of water a day to the city, has broken about 13 times since 2012.

At present, several areas, including Dong Da, Thanh Xuan, Ha Dong, Cau Giay and Bac Tu Liem, have gone for nearly a week without clean water, affecting the lives of more than 70,000 families.

On Tuesday afternoon, Ha Noi Clean Water Supply Company announced plans to provide supplies of water to homes and businesses on alternate days so that it can make repairs.

According to the company, this schedule will be adjusted according to the actual situation.

The company said the amount of water through the pipeline had fallen by 17,000 cubic metres to about 53,000 cubic metres a day.

It added that people should pay serious attention to the times the water supply was turned on to their homes so that they could plan to store some.

The pipeline was reported to have broken last Thursday and repaired on Saturday, but the supply of water was not enough to meet demands, a representative of the company said.

Vnexpress, an online newspaper reported that the director of the Ha Noi Construction Department, Nguyen Van Duc, said the capacity of water-supply companies in Ha Noi had fallen.

In addition, the demand for water had increased sharply because of the extremely hot weather.

Nguyen Anh Viet, director of Viet Nam Clean Water Investment and Construction Corporation (Viwaco), said it was using tankers to provide water to areas that still could not receive piped supplies.

Nguyen Thi Hanh, who lives in Vu Ngoc Phan Street in Dong Da District, said that for the past week, her family of three adults and one child had to eat out since they didn't have any clean water for cooking.

They had to buy water to wash in, but that became so expensive that they now bathed at their relatives' homes.

"My family had bathe at my mother's home for the past few days and eat out because we did not have any water," Hanh said.

Many families are also forced to buy buckets and tubs to hold clean water when the tankers of water supply company comes.

"I use all equipment in my house including buckets, basins, even bottles and pots to reserve clean water," said Phan Quynh Lien, a resident in Lang Ha Ward.

Nguyen Kim Dung, 72, from Lang Thuong ward, said she must take water from an underground well every day. Sometimes she asks for water from her neighbours.

"We don't go to toilet at home since we don't have water to flush," she said.

Dung said the shortage of water had disordered people's lives.

Many offices and restaurants throughout Ha Noi are also suffering.

Nguyen Van Ton, director of the Fresh Water Supply Company of the Viet Nam Construction and Import-Export Corporation (Vinaconex) said it had asked experts to try to raise water supplies.

Another pipeline to carry water from the Da River to Ha Noi will be started in October and finished in May next year.

This is expected to end all water shortages, Ton said.

VNS