Clean water shortage in Hanoi pending new pipeline

A shortage of clean water has affected residents, restaurants, offices and businesses in several parts of Hanoi due to a broken pipeline from the Da River Water Supply Plant.

And it is likely that the situation will not be completely rectified until a second pipeline is built from the Da River. Work is expected to start in October and be finished next year.

The existing pipeline, which normally delivers up to over 500,000 cubic metres of water a day to the city, has broken about 13 times since 2012.

At present, several areas, including Dong Da, Thanh Xuan, Ha Dong, Cau Giay and Bac Tu Liem, have gone for nearly a week without clean water, affecting the lives of more than 70,000 families.

On August 18 afternoon, Hanoi Clean Water Supply Company announced plans to provide supplies of water to homes and businesses on alternate days so that it can make repairs.

According to the company, this schedule will be adjusted according to the actual situation.

The company said the amount of water through the pipeline had fallen by 17,000 cubic metres to about 53,000 cubic metres a day.

It added that people should pay serious attention to the times the water supply was turned on to their homes so that they could plan to store some.

The pipeline was reported to have broken on August 13 and repaired on August 15, but the supply of water was not enough to meet demands, a representative of the company said.

Vnexpress, an online newspaper reported that the director of the Hanoi Construction Department, Nguyen Van Duc, said the capacity of water-supply companies in Hanoi had fallen.

In addition, the demand for water had increased sharply because of the extremely hot weather.

Nguyen Anh Viet, Director of VietNam Clean Water Investment and Construction Corporation (Viwaco), said it was using tankers to provide water to areas that still could not receive piped supplies.

Nguyen Van Ton, Director of the Fresh Water Supply Company of the Vietnam Construction and Import-Export Corporation (Vinaconex) said it had asked experts to try to raise water supplies.

Another pipeline to carry water from the Da River to Hanoi will be started in October and finished in May next year.

This is expected to end all water shortages, Ton said.-VNA