Around 3,000 residents at Tan Tan Do residential area in Hanoi have been using water with the high arsenic concentration for years, putting them at risk of cancer.

According to local residents, the water has a strange smell and it can change the natural colour of food such as meat

The Tan Tay Do residential area project, located in the outlying district of Dan Phuong, is invested by Hai Phat Investment Joint Stock Company. 

Over the recent days, people from many apartment buildings of the residential area have put up banners demanding the investor to provide clean water.

Nguyen Van Thuan, 56, said that his family has had to use the water which is very muddy, yellow and sparkling since when 2014 when they started living there.

“The water has a strange smell and it can change the natural colour of food such as meat. Local residents have complained this for years, but nothing has been done to improve the situation,” Thuan said. 

Nguyen Thi Mai, 60, said that her family had to install two water filtering systems, however, the water quality remained substandard, so they did not dare to use this for daily meals.

According to the local people, the water’s arsenic concentration of the water there is many times higher than the permitted level.

The recent test of the water quality at apartment 2414 in the area conducted by Quality Assurance and Testing Centre showed that the arsenic concentration is measured at 0.03 mg/L, three times higher than the permitted level regulated by the Ministry of Health. 

People from the residential area have put up banners demanding the investor to provide clean water

“We have informed the problem of different many management agencies, including the Government Office. After that, the Government Office instructed Hanoi authorities to deal with the case, but to date, we have not seen any improvements,” said Le Thi Thu from the CTA-B apartment building management board.

The investor promised to seek ways for the clean water supply for the Tan Tay Do residential area, while Tan Lap Commune’s authorities also pledged to support the work. But, over the past five years, households in the area have continued using the contaminated water.

Many families have to buy bottled water for daily use.

Dtinews/Lao Dong