Need to create competition in water supply

(Baonghean) - Domestic water is one of the leading factors of a civilized, modern city. Water supply in Vinh is currently not enough to meet demand; people living far from the city center still mostly use well water. Water is a daily concern for many people, especially on hot summer days. Providing domestic water for the city is a strategic goal, which must both meet immediate needs and plan for the future.

This is a problem that needs to be solved, based on scientific calculations in terms of economics and technology, ensuring long-term geological and environmental safety in the face of the increasingly large impacts of climate change.

Currently, the tap water source for the entire Vinh City is taken from the Water Plant in Cua Nam - Hung Nguyen. The exploited water is surface water from the river, the flow can be temporarily sufficient, but the quality depends on many factors such as: weather, storms, environment... especially the stage of maintaining the hygiene of the source. Water filtration technologyCurrently, it is possible to solve the internal filtration step, reduce some chemical components such as: Iron oxide (Fe2O3), calcium carbonate (CaCO3), magnesium (Mg2+)... to disinfect water, but it is not possible to remove chemical impurities from the environment such as: pesticides, chemical fertilizers, waste from daily life and industry. This is the biggest weakness in using surface water.

In the long term, we should think about planning to exploit and utilize local groundwater resources in the eastern and southern areas of the city such as: Truong Thi, Hung Dung (except for the area near the Vietnam - Poland Hospital and Hung Loc Cemetery), Trung Do, Ben Thuy, Nghi An, Nghi Duc... This is an area far from the water plant, a coastal strip near the lower Lam River with a large and quite good source of groundwater. Most people in this area are using water from homemade wells, many wells are used to make delicious fresh tea, which remains green all day. This is a very valuable resource that we need to protect, manage, and exploit, but the water business has neglected.

Groundwater is water deep underground. Water purification is mainly the process of enriching oxygen, filtering iron compounds, lime deposits, adjusting and purifying some other impurities. The advantage of groundwater is its large flow, relatively regular at all times and weather, allowing us to actively exploit it. Drought cannot exhaust groundwater, floods and the environment are more difficult to pollute than surface water. Today's groundwater exploitation technology has many new, modern, and convenient features that allow for a significant reduction in investment costs and time. Not to mention that on-site exploitation will reduce pipelines, road excavation, and construction works that have long occurred... Previously, the French also chose the option of exploiting groundwater with drilled wells in Truong Thi (now the location of the Brewery, old Hung Dung land) to supply water to Vinh City.

Along with the planning of exploitation and use of existing water resources, water business and supply activities need to be innovated to suit urban development. First of all, water for daily life must be managed, tested, controlled and become a real commodity. Water exploitation and supply should be planned by region. Depending on the underground water reserves, pumping stations can be built for each residential area, and self-managed water exploitation and supply enterprises can be organized. The city should have 2-3 more water supply projects for each region. It can be assigned to localities or enterprises to host the construction and exploitation, with design consultancy and construction supervision by specialized agencies. These projects should encourage the participation of capital contribution and management by consumers. As in other fields, it is necessary to create healthy competition in water supply. Only competition can develop well, prevent monopoly, loss, waste, reduce costs, and truly bring benefits to consumers and society.

One thing that needs to be mentioned and must become a specific regulation is that in construction and planning, water must be one step ahead. It is necessary to invest synchronously in infrastructure for new planning areas including: Pipeline systems, drainage pipes, water pumping stations... We should think about designing and building water towers, booster pumping stations, and regulating valve systems to bring water up high. Only then can we stop the situation where many houses build underground tanks at lower depths to store water, or use pumps directly connected to the pipeline system to draw water, doing so will not only take dirty water but also be costly.

A common situation occurring in urban residential areas is that almost every family builds their own pumping system, pipelines, and tanks to bring water up high for daily use. Let's do a modest calculation: each family invests about 4 million VND, then 50 families will need 200 million VND. This amount of money is enough to build a pumping station or a water tower to supply water to a residential area of ​​about 100 households. It is clear that the current water supply is "everyone takes care of themselves" without any planning or regulation. Poor families who do not have the means to invest, although they live together under the same fence, still suffer from a lack of clean water.

Thus, the water supply for Vinh City is not only the work of the water industry and water supply enterprises, but requires a synchronous change between all levels and sectors. Hopefully, along with the pace of development, Vinh City will soon have a strategy to provide clean water for daily life and production.

Phan Tat

(Ward Truong Thi - Vinh City)