Hanoi Continues to Face Water Shortage

A shortage of clean water would affect residents in several parts of Hanoi district this summer, the Hanoi Water Supply Company said. The shortage of water is expected to reach 60,000cu.m per day, while the demand for clean water in summer increases by 2% to 3% annually. One of the reasons for the shortage of water is the reduction in groundwater resources, rising from 1% to 2% annually, a representative of the company said. The Da River Water Supply Plant supplies about 40,000cu.m to 50,000cu.m per day to the city, while the plant's water pipeline always has trouble. The plant's pipeline broke twice and its power was cut in the beginning of the year, affecting the water supply to Dong Da and Cau Giay districts. Meanwhile, the implementation of projects to increase the water levels of the River Hong (Red) and the River Duong is still slow due to the lack of investment capital and land for construction. The company said it would try to the raise the production capacity of water factories to deal with the current difficulties, with the quantity of exploited groundwater expected to increase from 585,000cu.m to 6,200cu.m per day from mid-April to the end of October. However, the company warned about the risk of local water shortage in the residential areas of Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem, Dong Da and Cau Giay, besides Hoang Mai and Hai Ba Trung districts. The company will co-ordinate with the Da River Water Supply Plant to maintain water supply and use tankers to supply water to areas that cannot access clean water. (Vietnam News Apr 9)