Thousands of Hanoians in Hai Ba Trung and Hoang Mai districts still suffer from a lack of tap water.

In Hai Ba Trung District’s Bach Mai Street and Tu Do Alley, water pumps were often broken. During torrential rains, residents even stored rainwater for daily use, reported Tin tức newspaper.

A resident in Bach Mai Street said although staff from the Hanoi Water Co Ltd’s Hai Ba Trung Branch came to fix the pumps, water could only be pumped in the daytime. At night, the water supplier failed to meet demand.

Phung Ngoc Minh, director of Hanoi Water Co Ltd’s Hai Ba Trung Branch, said that since Cho Mo Plaza, located in Bach Mai Street, opened in 2014, the demand for tap water in the area had increased.

This resulted in tap-water shortages on Bach Mai Street and Tu Do Alley.

To overcome the situation, in the short term, the branch would provide water on even hours and on odd hours alternatively for each area, Minh said.

The situation is the same in Dai Kim urban area in Hoang Mai District.

A representative of the urban area’s Management And Operation Company said the demand for tap water in the urban area was up to 1,900 cubic metres daily, however, the maximum volume of water that the company could buy from the Viwaco Joint Stock Company was 1,500 cubic metres daily.

Second pipeline construction suspended

While residents have suffered the lack of tap water, the plan to construct a second pipeline, carrying water from the Da River Water Plant in the northern province of Hoa Binh to Hanoi, which began construction last October, has been suspended.

The plan was halted because of public concern over China’s Xinxing Corporation winning the bid to supply materials for the pipeline.

Nguyen Van Ton, director of Vinaconex Water Supply Joint Stock Company said the plan was suspended as the company was awaiting the final decision from authorised agencies.

In March, the plan was postponed after Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc instructed the city administration to review the project.

The first pipeline, bringing tap water from the Da River Water Plant in the northern province of Hoa Binh to Hanoi, broke 18 times since it began operations in late 2008.

This was partly to blame for the water shortages, a source told to Tin tức newspaper.

92% of HCM City households have access to clean water 

In HCM City, nearly 1.8 million, or 92 per cent, of households in HCM City have access to clean water, compared to 88 per cent in December last year, according to the city’s Department of Transport.

About 150,000 households, mostly in District 12, Cu Chi, Binh Chanh and Hoc Mon districts, do not have access to clean water.

The city’s districts have made efforts to provide clean water for all households, but the process has been slow because of problems related to equipment that must be installed in each household in rural districts. These homes are located far from tap water pipes.

The equipment, which cleans and treats tap water, is expensive, about VNĐ70 million (US$3,100). In addition, many companies have been reluctant to bid because of the city’s quality standards for equipment.  

In Binh Chanh and Cu Chi districts, for instance, 496 households have not received the equipment as scheduled.

At a meeting held last Thursday (Aug 25), deputy chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, Le Van Khoa, told the Department of Finance to work with agencies to create favourable conditions for districts to complete clean-water supply targets this year.

The city’s People’s Committee has also asked Binh Tan District and District 12 to fulfill their clean-water supply goals by the end of October, while Cu Chi, Hoc Mon and Binh Chanh districts should complete their targets by the end of November.

To meet the goal of providing clean water to 100 per cent of households by the year-end, the city is speeding up construction of water-supply works in Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon and Cu Chi districts.

By the year-end, the city aims to install 1,282 km of water pipes and 128 general water metres, upgrade 21 water supply stations, and install 433 water tanks and 1,193 water-cleaning devices at households in outlying districts. 

VNS