VietNamNet Bridge – 358,351 out of 1,874,114 households in Ho Chi Minh City have not accessed to fresh water supply meanwhile the city has set its target that by yearend, most of households in the city will be able to access to fresh water.

A resident in Can Gio District is happy to use fresh water. The city set the target that most of households will be able to access to fresh water

According to the Saigon Water Corporation (SAWACO), more than 99 percent of households in suburb districts can access to fresh water yet there has been around 358,351 households in edge of suburb areas still use well water or rain water.

Through testing water quality in edge of suburb districts 12, Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Nha Be, Binh Tan and Thu Duc, the result showed that water quality in these areas does not meet the requirement set by the Ministry of Health.

As per the city People’s Council, by the end of the year, most of households in the city must have clean and qualified water to use. To achieve the above-mentioned target, it needs approximately VND5 trillion (US$229.2 million) – a big amount; accordingly, the government will call for social contribution.

The water company will implement synchronous measures in Cu Chi District to be the first district to have fresh water supply. For detail, the company will carry out four projects at the same time to provide fresh water to 98,418 households in Cu Chi Town and 10 neighboring communes.

The company will build new water supply station Binh My 2 and upgrade 6 other water supply stations in communes Trung An, Pham Van Coi, Phuoc Thanh, Thai My, An Nhon Tay, Trung Lap Ha. In addition, the company will also install 1,400 water tanks and 210 water clocks besides 100 water filtering devices as piloting installed earlier. The company said if they meet the standard the company will install for all households.

According to the Department of Transport, it is hoped that most of households in the city will have fresh water for daily activities and cooking. The city is planned to install over 1,200 kilometer –long water pipes and upgrade 28 water supply stations as well as 1,641 water clocks and 137,000 filtering equipments which totally cost over VND 9 trillion (US$412.7 million) as per the municipal Department of Finance.    

SGGP