VietNamNet Bridge – This last one month, residents of Buon Ma Thuot City, Buon Ho Town and Krong Pak District in Dak Lak Province have been facing an acute shortage of water which caused much inconvenience during their Tet festive season.

A household stores water in drums for daily use. (Photo: Nguoi Lao Dong).

Many families have had to store water in drums and plastic cans for daily use.

One person on Dao Duy Tu Street in Buon Ma Thuot City said lack of water supply had disrupted their daily routine. The family had bought big water bottles to store water for cooking and drinking but that was just a temporary solution.

Other city residents said they were using big tanks to store water for the days when there was no water supply.

The shortage of water is becoming more acute. Thousands of households in Buon Ma Thuot City and some areas in Tan Loi, Tan An, resettlement area of Tu An Ward, and the regional Teachers College in the highland province of Dak Lak are still suffering water shortage due to major drop in groundwater level.

People in elevated and central areas of the city, such as the communes of Tan Loi and Tan An, have suffered water shortage for several consecutive days.

Tran Van Thien, Director of Water Supply and Construction Investment Company told reporters that the company's domestic output is only 35,0003 per day, down nearly 40 percent from normal.

Thus, the daily water supply is 10,000-15,000m³ to meet the water needs of the people of Buon Ma Thuot City and the company has to ration water for distribution.

In previous years, water restrictions were introduced between April and June to ensure enough water for the whole city during the dry season, Thien said.

He cited a report of the company’s Technical Department saying that the fall in water levels during Tet had never happened before.

He said that this year farmers had started watering their coffee plants following several months of minimal rain, which had caused the underground water to fall. Also, a greater number of power cuts had interrupted pumping, he added.

About 15,000 households in different areas of the city were taking turns in facing water supply cuts each day.

The situation became more serious especially during the Tet holiday season, when the demand for domestic use was two times higher than usual.

All reservoirs at the company’s pump stations were operating at full capacity. Ea Ko Tam, the main pump station was operating at 20 percent capacity.

Source: SGGP