"Thirsty" for clean water

(Baonghean.vn) - Hung Chinh Commune (Vinh City) currently has 1,786 households with nearly 8,000 people, but only over 40% of the population has access to clean water. Meanwhile, the underground water source is not safe for use.

Before being merged into Vinh City, Hung Chinh commune belonged to the administrative boundary of Hung Nguyen district, so the supply of domestic water was provided by the district's clean water supply center. However, with old machinery and pipeline systems that have been used for decades, nearly 60% of the people in Hung Chinh commune do not have access to clean water. Of the 8 hamlets of the commune, only hamlet 8, close to the factory's level 1 water pipeline system, has enough clean water to use, the remaining hamlets are always in a state of severe water shortage. Therefore, the image of people asking for or buying water is no longer strange here.

Mr. Nguyen Van Mai next to his family's rainwater storage jar. Photo: TQ

In the hot days of April, the fear of water shortage weighed heavily on the people of Hamlet 6, Hung Chinh Commune. It is known that the hamlet has 214 households with 720 people, but only 30 households have a water pipeline system from the factory. However, out of the 30 households, only 3 households are supplied with water, the remaining 27 households have not been supplied with water. Because the pipeline is degraded, clean water cannot reach. To have water for use, people are forced to drill wells to find underground water sources. However, the water source is contaminated with alum, so they have to drill 32m or more deep to have water for daily use, and for food and drink, they have to rely on the small amount of rainwater stored or buy at a high price.

In the same situation, out of 180 households in Hamlet 1, only 65 households have access to water. Because it is located next to Dam Dam Cemetery, people here limit the use of underground water sources. If they have access, they have to drill several dozen meters deep to get water for daily use. Mr. Nguyen Van Mai, a resident who has registered and installed a water supply system from the factory for more than 10 years, said: “After 10 years of use, the water meter only stops at 50 cubic meters. Sometimes for 3 or 4 months, the family has to pay the factory only 12,000 VND because the amount of water pumped is too little. In winter, it is impossible to install a water heater because in a short time, the pipes will rust severely. If you use well water for bathing, you will often feel itchy and uncomfortable, or after only a few washes, your clothes will turn yellow.”

Mr. Nguyen Hong Quang, Vice Chairman of Hung Chinh Commune People's Committee said: "Because the factory does not have enough funds to renovate the pipeline system and only exploits the old investment system, in the past, the water supply to the people has had many shortcomings. In this situation, the project to upgrade Hung Nguyen Water Plant has been implemented since the end of 2009 with a total cost of nearly 45 billion VND. Up to now, nearly 24 km of pipeline of the project has been installed and is in the process of pressure testing. According to calculations, by June 2015, the project will be put into operation to provide domestic water for the people of the town and the 3 communes of Hung Chinh, Hung Dao and Hung My".

However, the project only builds a level 1 and level 2 water supply system, while the level 3 and level 4 water supply system to each family is not included in the project. Therefore, any family that wants to use tap water must invest in installing their own pipeline, which requires a large amount of money to bring water to their home.

THANH QUYNH

* For more than 4 months now, nearly 1,000 people in Trung Do hamlet, Tan Hop highland commune, Tan Ky district have been facing a serious shortage of domestic water. The water source that Trung Do hamlet residents use mainly comes from Mo Rang stream. Every day, people have to travel 5 km to the stream to get water, but this year Mo Nuoc stream has dried up to the bottom.

Most of the water tanks and wells of the families have been exhausted. For those households who do not have means of getting water, they have to buy water at 100,000 VND/m3. This is too high a price for the people, especially in Trung Do hamlet, where 50% of the families are poor. Many households have invested over 10 million VND to rent machines to drill wells, but after only a short time, the water source is exhausted.

The lack of water has greatly affected the daily life of the people, especially the teaching and learning of Tan Hop Kindergarten. To provide water on site, the school rented a well drilling machine up to 80m deep but still had no water. Therefore, every time parents take their children to school, they have to bring a can of water. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Head of Trung Do Hamlet, said: “Trung Do Hamlet has always struggled with domestic water, this year the weather is drier than previous years, I hope that all levels and sectors will pay attention and support to help the Hamlet overcome the shortage of domestic water for the people…”.

Phuong Thao

(Tan Ky Radio)