Currently only some 60 percent of cities in Vietnam have concentrated water supply systems.

The country’s per capita ration of water supplies is 75-80 liters per day in small and medium cities and 100-150 liters a day in larger cities, according to Tuoi Tre.

Some 40 percent of the city dwellers suffer from a shortage of clean water while the ratio of rural residents provided with clean water ranges from 40 to 60 percent.

Most major rivers in Vietnam have become polluted due to waste discharged from residential areas and industrial parks.

The latest figures from the Environment Protection Department show that the content of BOD₅ (biochemical oxygen demand as measured in the standard 5-day test) and ammonia N-NH4 at most major rivers exceeds the permissible level by 1.5-3 times.

Most canals, lakes and rivers in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hai Phong and Hue have been polluted seriously with organic waste.

Meanwhile, water tables in many coastal regions have been impacted by seawater.

The Red River delta and the Mekong River delta have seen a sharp fall in the water table and water in many regions has been affected with arsenic and phosphate.

In Hanoi, some 71 percent of the city’s wells have a phosphate content higher than the permissible level.

The canals in HCMC, including Tham Luong, Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe, and Tan Hoa-Lo Gom, receive some 1.5 million cu.m of waste water from residential areas a day.

According to the Institute for Environment and Natural Resources, the southern Dong Nai River has received some 992,356 cu.m of waste water from urban areas along the river.

Dong Nai province alone has used some 922,000 tons of chemical fertilizers and nearly 2,000 tons of insecticides for agricultural production a year that all end up polluting local water sources, Nguoi Lao Dong reported.

Water demand surges

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, by 2020 Ho Chi Minh City will need 3.2 million cu.m of water per day compared with one million at present.

Meanwhile, water demand for the southern provinces of Dong Nai and Binh Duong will increase from 300,000 to one million cu.m per day in the next 15 years.

Jordan Ryan, former representative of the United Nation Development Program in Vietnam stressed Vietnam should map out a water resources management strategy to translate its development targets in the new millennium.

Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee, Le Thanh Hai, recognizing the water problem told a meeting recently that the city has a plan in place to focus on solving water pollution to ensure clean water supply for city residents.

Tran The Ngoc, director of the HCMC Department of Natural Resource and Environment said raising public awareness on protecting water resources and the environment is key.

Awareness

The Danish International Development Agency (Danida), Vietnam’s Ministry of  Fisheries and the Denmark-sponsored Support to Brackish Water & Marine Aquaculture (SUMA) have recently launched a project in central Khanh Hoa province to raise child awareness of protecting the environment and water resources.

Nearly 50 students of poor families on Diep Son and Ninh Tan island hamlets in Van Ninh district have joined the “Water Droplets” project, expressing their thoughts and dreams through snapshots or paintings.

And many children share the same wish – a well full of fresh water.

Eight-year-old Pham Ngoc Tinh summed up what people face under the present conditions, “The prolonged drought this year has dried the wells in the village. Many people have to travel far to seek or purchase fresh water.”

World Water Day

UNESCO has taken the opportunity of World Water Day on March 22 to promote its theme this year of “Water and Culture”.

The theme draws attention to the fact that there are many ways of viewing, using, and celebrating water based on the variety of cultural traditions across the world.

UNESCO aims – through World Water Day – to preserve and respect the specificity of each culture, bringing them all together and extending them in a more interactive and interdependent world that is sensitive to its surrounding environment.

Source: Tuoi Tre, Nguoi Lao Dong, Thanh Nien, UNESCO website -  Compiled by Thu Thuy_Thanhniennews.com, 21/3/2006