Quy Hop district urgently requests to change the input raw water source contaminated with arsenic exceeding the threshold by 20 times.

Pollution at alarming levels

On October 7, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung - Chairman of Quy Hop District People's Committee said that the leaders of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee have just issued a document, assigning the Department of Construction to preside over and coordinate with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant agencies to consider the proposal to relocate the raw water intake location to supply Quy Hop Town Water Plant.

This move came after the People's Committee of Quy Hop district sent an official dispatch to the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments and branches requesting an urgent transfer of the raw water intake location of the water plant from Nam Huong stream to Nam Choong stream. This request was made in the context that the raw water sample of the water plant had many substandard parameters, the most worrying being the arsenic content exceeding the standard by more than 20 times.

Quy Hop town water plant was built in 2000, and is now providing drinking water and daily life for more than 2,370/2,913 households, with 9,851 people in Quy Hop town.

However, according to Mr. Tung,The water source of the water plant has some factors that do not guarantee quality.. The source is taken from Nam Huong stream, while in the stream basin there are up to 51 mineral mines licensed for exploitation and processing, including 39 stone mines, 8 tin ore mines, 4 combined stone and tin ore mines and 1 tin ore processing plant.

“In the process of mining, mineral processing and tin ore enrichment, through the stages of sedimentation and filtration, liquid waste will be discharged into the water environment, mixing with streams in the upstream area, then flowing into the Nam Huong stream through the water intake of the Quy Hop town water plant. During that process, heavy metals are generated that can directly affect human health if exceeding the permitted standards such as: Ammonium, Arsenic, Cadmium, Manganese, Iron, Lead, Chromium, Mercury. Meanwhile, the Quy Hop town water plant does not have the technology to separate the above harmful substances from the water source supplied to users,” the head of the Quy Hop district People's Committee stated in an official dispatch sent to the provincial People's Committee.

Mr. Tung also cited that in recent years, there have been a number of incidents that clearly affected the water source entering the water plant. Specifically, in March 2017, at the Suoi Bac mine area, an incident occurred where the dam of the settling pond broke, causing sludge to overflow and sediment along the stream, causing fish to die in some fish ponds of people taking water from Nam Huong stream. This incident was inspected and punished by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, at the same time, requiring the enterprise to remedy the incident, compensate for damages and renovate and restore the environment. However, the water source entering the water plant remains unchanged.

By July 2024, there were still unusual fish deaths upstream of the water plant, near the tin mine of Ha An Tin Company Limited. Analysis results of surface water samples at the stream on July 8, 2024 showed that 5/8 parameters exceeded the standard, of which Arsenic exceeded 5.4 times; Cadmium exceeded 18.56 times; Manganese exceeded 23.7 times; Iron exceeded 16.34 times...

Need a plan soon

This is not the first time monitoring results have shown that the water source entering the Quy Hop Town Water Plant is polluted. Since 2017, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has concluded an inspection after the sludge dam break incident, including measuring and analyzing waste samples in the Suoi Bac area. The results of the analysis of mud and soil samples with arsenic content according to the analysis method of absolute basic content and leaching content both exceeded the hazardous threshold.

Also in 2017, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment concluded that the total suspended solids (TSS) exceeded the standard by 2.13 times, and the arsenic by 1.35 times... In July 2019, the Department also issued an official dispatch concluding that the quality of the raw water source input to the Quy Hop town water plant was at an alarming level. In December 2023, the monitoring results of this area once again showed that the arsenic content exceeded the standard...

In particular, most recently, on September 10, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment once again issued an official dispatch.Raw water quality warningof some water plants, most notably in Quy Hop. Specifically, the water sample monitored at the raw water intake location in Luom village (Chau Quang commune) had 3/21 parameters exceeding the permissible standards, of which Arsenic exceeded the standard by 20.3 times. This is the first time that monitoring results have shown that the Arsenic content exceeds the standard at such an alarming level.

“In recent years, at the meetings of the Commune People's Council and District People's Council, voters and people have repeatedly requested the water plant to move the water intake to Nam Choong stream, but so far there have been no results. The District People's Committee has implemented synchronous solutions but the results have not been as expected," said Mr. Tung, adding that, specifically, the district has strengthened state management of mineral exploitation and processing activities in the district in general and the upstream area of ​​Nam Huong stream in particular. Enterprises are required to conduct exploitation, processing and implement environmental protection measures in accordance with the documents licensed by competent authorities.

However, the specialized agencies of the District People's Committee cannot analyze and inspect the quality of the input water source of Quy Hop Water Plant, therefore, the management of water quality does not meet practical requirements.

According to Mr. Tung, since 2018, the District People's Committee has repeatedly sent official dispatches to the Provincial People's Committee, relevant departments and branches, and Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company to move the water intake to a new location. Accordingly, Nam Choong water source is used, because the upstream of this stream does not have any mineral exploitation activities. This location has been surveyed, selected, and analyzed to meet the permitted standards.

The district People's Committee has also called on and mobilized investors to invest in building a water plant in Quy Hop district using water from Nam Choong stream. However, this project has not been implemented yet.approve the policyBecause there has not been any additional planning for a water supply plant in Quy Hop area.

In recent years, the district has had to propagate and mobilize people to limit the use of water from the Quy Hop Water Plant for eating and drinking. At the same time, it has increased the use of well water or rainwater combined with water filtration technology to have clean water for eating and drinking. However, due to difficult economic conditions, many well drilling locations have not yielded results, so the efficiency is still not high.

In addition to the People's Committee of Quy Hop district, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has also issued conclusions, directed and requested Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company to coordinate with the People's Committee of Quy Hop district to find other input water sources to replace the current input raw water source to ensure long-term sustainability for the people. However, up to now, the water source has not been changed.