Struggling with the plan to move the raw water intake point in Quy Hop district
The Nam Huong River has been “suffocated” by tin mines upstream for many years, causing mass fish deaths at times. Especially recently, when many analytical indicators exceeded standards, affecting human health. However, the plan to move the raw water intake point from the Nam Huong River to Nam Choong has been struggling for many years.
Shocked by the results of water sample analysis
In early August, people in Quy Hop town became even more worried after the Department of Natural Resources and Environment announced the results of water sample tests in the upper Nam Huong River, where Thiec Ha An Company discharged waste causing mass fish deaths.
“We have to spend money to drill a well to use, uncle. If we keep taking water from this polluted river, we will die,” said Mr. Nguyen Hoang Long (56 years old), Quy Hop town.
Mr. Long is one of more than 2,300 households in this locality that are buying domestic water from Quy Hop Water Plant, part of Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company.
“If we use well water, it will also be contaminated with limestone. But in any case, limestone is better than water contaminated with substances like arsenic, and limestone can still be filtered,” said Mr. Long, adding that this is also the solution that many other households in Quy Hop town are implementing, after many years of proposing to move the raw water intake point to another location but were not approved.
According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, analysis results show that surface water samples at the point where the Castro cave area is discharged into the headwaters of Bac stream (upstream of Nam Huong) are compared with the maximum limits of parameters affecting human health.
Specifically, 5/8 parameters exceeded the standard. Of which, ammonium exceeded 1.71 times; arsenic exceeded 5.4 times; cadmium exceeded 18.56 times; manganese exceeded 23.7 times; iron exceeded 16.34 times. Some parameters exceeding the allowable standard were one of the causes of surface water pollution in streams and creeks at the time of sampling.
The location for water sampling for analysis is more than 15 km upstream from the raw water intake point of Quy Hop Water Plant. Notably, the time of water sampling was July 8, 2024, exactly 1 week after people reported that the stream had changed color and fish had died en masse. At the time of water sampling, the tin mine had also stopped discharging waste into the environment.
“A week later, the water had long since been gone, but the analysis results still exceeded the standard, which was really shocking. If the samples had been taken at the time the company discharged the waste, we don’t know what the numbers would have been. It’s really worrying.”
Mr. Phan Thanh Hung (65 years old), resident of block 11, Quy Hop town
According to a leader of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district, working with the locality, recently the Quy Hop Water Plant provided a monthly output water test report conducted by the Provincial Center for Disease Control, with 10 test indicators and a 6-month output water report conducted by the Institute of Health and Occupation, with 91 test indicators. The output test results of the water plant showed that the test indicators were all within normal limits. However, among the output test indicators at the water plant, there was no arsenic test indicator. Therefore, on July 22, 2024, the People's Committee of the district sent an official dispatch requesting the Nghe An Provincial Center for Disease Control to conduct arsenic test indicators. By July 25, 2024, the Center for Disease Control had established an inspection team, taking 1 output water sample at the Quy Hop Water Plant and 5 water samples from households for testing. To date, there are no test results.
Struggling with the plan to change raw water source
According to Mr. Le Sy Hao - Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quy Hop district, this is not the first time that test results have shown that Nam Huong river is polluted, especially contaminated with arsenic. It has been like this for many years, the district has also issued a document proposing to move the raw water intake point. But up to now, this plan is still at a standstill.
Specifically, since 2017, monitoring results have shown that the Nam Huong River is contaminated with arsenic. After the People's Committee of Quy Hop district proposed, in April 2018, Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company and this locality coordinated with the Center for Preventive Medicine to organize a field survey, selecting a location to take raw water from Nam Choong stream (Chau Dinh commune), to replace the raw water source taken from Nam Huong river as present. This location is about 200 meters upstream from the confluence with Dinh river. The authorities also took water samples from Nam Choong stream for testing. The results showed that the water quality met the requirements. "The source at Nam Choong stream is very clean, because there are no mineral exploitation factories upstream of this stream," said a leader of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district.
Although the field survey and water sample monitoring results met the requirements, the plan to relocate the raw water intake point was still at a standstill. In August 2019, when taking water samples about 500m upstream from the water supply system's intake point, the results showed that the heavy metal arsenic exceeded 2 and TSS exceeded 20.3 times the standard.
To ensure clean water safety for people, in this document, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment requested Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company to have a plan to exploit other water sources to replace in case of pollution incidents in the exploited domestic water source.
According to the reporter's investigation, the reason for the delay in relocating the raw water intake point is that Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company and Quy Hop District People's Committee could not find a common voice in spending money for the relocation. Specifically, according to the request of the water plant in 2019, the cost for the relocation was more than 10 billion VND, of which the capital was paid by the mineral exploitation enterprises causing pollution. According to the leader of Quy Hop District People's Committee, these mineral exploitation enterprises did not agree to pay.
In addition, according to Mr. Quan Vi Giang - Vice Chairman of Quy Hop District People's Committee, after Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company hesitated in changing the input raw water source, another water supply enterprise also contacted the locality to invest in another water plant to replace it.
“This company has also come to survey, complete all documents and procedures. They agreed to invest a large amount of money to build a water plant, to get clean water according to the district's requirements. However, when submitting the documents to the Department of Construction, they were not approved. The reason is because it is not in the planning. Therefore, up to now, more than 2,300 households still have to use water from Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company. The company still refuses to change the input raw water source.”
Mr. Quan Vi Giang - Vice Chairman of Quy Hop District People's Committee
