VietNamNet Bridge - Water supply companies have committed to supplying clean water to households for daily use, but the water has not been clean as promised.

In June 2016, local newspapers reported that state management officers had to spend a sleepless night to fish out 5-6 tons of dead fish from the Hoang Cau Lake.

Many other lakes, serving as ‘air conditioners and lungs’, in the crowded inner city have become seriously polluted.

According to the General Directorate of Environment, the underground water in most urban areas is polluted because of urbanization, especially in Hanoi and HCMC. 

An official report showed that Hanoians lack 63,000 cubic meters of water a day. 

Water supply companies have committed to supplying clean water to households for daily use, but the water has not been clean as promised.

Director of the Hanoi Construction Department Le Van Duc said the city residents need 1.02 million cubic meters of water, but only 960,000 cubic meters are provided. 

The Song Da Water Plant undertakes to provide 27 percent of total water output, but the water shortage still exists because of the regular pipeline break-down incidents.

A lot of residential quarters suffer from long-term water shortage, including Buoi in Ba Dinh district, Thuy Khue in Tay Ho, Chuong Duong, Phuc Tan, Ham Tu Quan and Hong Ha in Hoan Kiem district, De La Thanh, Lang and Thai Thinh in Dong Da.

A family in late May reported that thousands of people in Hoang Mai district lacked water for daily use for nearly one month and they had to dig wells, just several hundreds of meters away from To Lich, the river known for its pollution.

Hanoians are also insecure about the water quality. According to the Hanoi Medical Prevention Center Nguyen Nhat Cam, in 2015, the center tested water samples taken from 50 water supply units in the city and found that many could not provide water that met standards, with the arsenic content higher than the permitted level.

In Nam Tu Liem district, 10 water supply units did not meet chemical standards.

The center also tested the water samples from 120 apartment blocks and residential quarters in 17 districts and found that 67 blocks had water samples not meeting the standards. The water tanks at the blocks were not cleared regularly, while the buildings’ owners did not have water samples tested.

WHO said 80 percent of diseases in developing countries were caused by reasons related to twater sources. In Vietnam, 9,000 deaths and 200,000 cancer cases every year are believed to have relations with water sources.

The Ministry of Health allows an no more than iron residue of 0.3 mg per liter and 0.5 mg per liter of manganese. 

Xay Dung