VietNamNet Bridge – Unable to access the city’s tap-water resources, Ho Chi Minh City’s suburbanites must use water from wells they dig themselves. But the underground water is getting seriously polluted.

Using unsafe water and feeling insecure

According to Sawaco, the HCM City water supply company, fewer than 10 percent of the residents of suburban districts can access the city’s clean water sources, while others use “hygienic water”.

“Hygienic water”, as it is called, is the water pumped from underground aquifers at a depth of tens of meters, which has no color, smell or taste.

However, Pham Van Dong, Head of the HCM City People’s Council’s Economics & Budget Committee, pointed out that this “hygienic water” is not really hygienic at all.

Dong discovered this after fact-finding trips to the suburban areas of the city. A number of water samples taken from wells in these areas have been found to have high alum levels, and are therefore unusable.

Nguyen Van Minh, a local resident from Long Phuoc Ward in District 9, said more than 200 households in the area have been using rainwater for their cooking, due to pollution of the well water.

If it does not rain for many consecutive days, people have to buy clean water at VND60,000 ($3) per cubic meter from merchants who take water from the Dong Nai River.

The hundreds of households in Hamlet 3 of Tan Kien Commune in Binh Chanh District have been using polluted water for the last several years, having no other choice.

“We pump underground water from a depth of 150 meters and filter it twice, but it still has a fishy smell,” said Nguyen Van Phi, a local resident.

Thousands of households in the communes of Ba Diem, Xuan Thoi Son and Dong Thanh in Hoc Mon District have also been using unsafe water for the last several years, with the exception of those well-off enough to buy clean water from different sources.

Calling for private investments

Bringing clean water to the suburbs remains a big headache for city authorities.

In fact, a number of water supply projects have been drawn up but not yet implemented, due to a lack of funds.

Bach Vu Hai, Deputy General Director of Sawaco, said about 220 projects to supply clean water to thousands of households in the suburbs and some parts of Thu Duc, Binh Tan and District 12, totaling VND2.2 trillion, are expected to be implemented in 2014-2015.

However, Hai said only some priority projects can be completed this year, because Sawaco can only arrange 50 percent of the funding needed.

HCM City’s Vice Mayor, Nguyen Huu Tin, said the city would call for private investment in the water supply projects. The city needs trillions of dong worth of capital to set up 130 kilometers of water pipelines to receive water from the Tan Hiep 2 and Thu Duc 2 water plants, and 1,080 kilometers of pipeline to bring water to every household.

NLD