VietNamNet Bridge – The Tay Ninh-based Dau Tieng Reservoir may not be able to provide clean water in future years if factories in the province continue to discharge their untreated waste water.

The reservoir provides water for the agricultural irrigation system, household use and industrial production in Tay Ninh as well as neighbouring Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces.

Vu Duc Hung, director of Dau Tieng Irrigation Exploitation Company, said there were several rubber and cassava processing companies operating near the reservoir that discharge untreated waste water into the lake.

Pig farms near the lake and on islets located in the lake also cause serious pollution to the water and environment.

Hung said the company had asked authorities in Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc to impose severe sanctions on companies that discharge untreated waste water.

He said the province had sent investigators to the site and acknowledged that companies were polluting the water.

The authorities, however, had not taken action, Hung said, adding that his company did not have the right to hand down penalties to polluting companies and pig farms.

For years, pollution has been a problem in the reservoir.

In 2005, more than 1,200 fish cages belonging to around 200 families polluted the reservoir's water. The local government asked that all fish cages be dismounted from the lake.

The pollution can affect the health of people in Tay Ninh, Long An and Binh Duong provinces as well as HCM City, all of which use water pumped from the lake.

If Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces do not take action, more factories will continue to cause pollution to the Dau Tieng Reservoir.

Water plants in HCM City and others in Tay Ninh and Binh Duong provinces that pump water from the reservoir will be seriously affected.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News