Increasing clean water usage in Rural areas

​Pumping stations construction Inspection in Cam My District

Many areas ‘thirst’ for clean water

Hamlet 6, Tam An commune was selected as location for a model residential area of Long Thanh District. Many infrastructure works such as roads, electricity lines, rainwater drainage systems have been implemented at this location. However, the question of ability to use clean water, is the major concern of the residents here.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Lan (Hamlet 6, Tam An commune) said that the shortage of domestic water in the dry season has been going on for many years. The households in this place are very keen to provide clean water and have submitted applications for water supply many times but not yet approved.

For many years, Cam My District has always been the “focal point” of the shortage of water for agricultural production and daily life in the dry season. Che Van Thanh, Head of Economic and Infrastructure Division of Cam My District said that the depleted underground water source and reservoirs are located far away from concentrated residential areas, which makes the high investment cost, is the reason why businesses are not keen on investing in clean water works.

“The current inadequacy is that although there are 5 irrigation works exploiting domestic water in the area, only 3 small scale projects are serving clean water for the district. The largest irrigation project is Song Ray Lake, which is exploited and managed by Ba Ria - Vung Tau province; Cau Moi reservoir irrigation work, which is exploited and managed by Cau Moi Lake Water Supply Joint Stock Company, is supplying industrial and domestic water to Long Thanh and Nhon Trach districts. These projects have not exploited their full capacity but it is very difficult to call businesses to invest in clean water for local people. The reason is that the habit and need of using clean water of the residents here are not high.” – said Mr. Thanh.

Many people in Thanh Phu Commune (Vinh Cuu District) reported that they’re living very close to Thien Tan Water Plant (Tan Bien Ward, Bien Hoa City) but until now they have not been provided with clean water. The lack of clean water leads to widespread drilling in the dry season, affecting people's lives and its activities.

Solutions to increase rate of clean water use in rural areas 

According to Tran Dinh Minh, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province has 85 clean water supply works in rural areas with a total design capacity of over 21.7 thousand m³/day and night. The actual exploitation capacity is 24.1 thousand m³/day and night, reaching about 56.5%. Currently, about 78% of the population has access to clean water according to the QC02 standard of the Ministry of Health, but only about 12% of the population use clean water from piped systems; The remaining is using water from drilled wells and hygienic dug wells; or using a household water filter.

The current difficulty is that clean water projects with funding from 134 and 135 programs have been degraded or shut down, some of them have not been repaired, so the water quality is not guaranteed; a number of rural clean water projects using budget capital are behind schedule due to adjustment of land use planning, capital adjustment; Many socialized capital projects have not been effective due to the poor people's habit and demand for using clean water.

In the face of lack of clean water in some rural areas, many localities have actively invested in clean water supply works for people, with priority given to rural areas and areas with low groundwater reserves.

In 2019, Dinh Quan District invested 3 water supply works with designed output for about 1.3 thousand households; In 2020, this locality intends to invest 3 more clean water projects to supply water to about 10 thousand households. Along with that, Cam My district also invested in upgrading the borehole in 2019 to ensure clean water for about 1.5 thousand households; and in 2020, this locality will invest in 3 other clean water supply works. Other localities will also prioritize funding for investment in clean water works for local people.

In the Public Investment Plan for 2020, Dong Nai plans to spend VND 239 billion to deploy 7 clean water supply projects for Cam My, Dinh Quan, Vinh Cuu, Tan Phu districts and Long Khanh City. Also in 2020, 3 projects will be implemented and time for completion is expected from 3-5 years. The provincial leadership also directs localities to prioritize investment capital, upgrade concentrated clean water supply works; strictly manage groundwater exploitation; mobilize the socialization of clean water investment;  require urban water supply and industrial production units to invest in branch water supply lines for surrounding residential areas. These are solutions to improve the clean water usage rate in rural areas.

By Phan Anh