Many localities have difficulty in providing clean water.

Rural areas "thirsty" for clean water

Clean water is one of the essential needs in daily life. Not only that, in recent years, the rate of people using clean water is the criterion to consider a locality that meets the new rural standards (NTM) or even a livable countryside. However, in many rural areas of Nghe An, every year, when summer comes, the hot weather is a haunting fear of lack of domestic water and clean water.

The new water plant has been capitalized with over 7 billion VND since 2022, so it has been renovated and will soon be put into operation to supply some hamlets in Quynh Tho commune (Quynh Luu). Photo: Nguyen Hai

Specifically, at this time, some communes in the coastal areas of Quynh Luu or Nghi Loc, along with some communes in the rural or low-lying areas of Yen Thanh and Hung Nguyen districts, still do not have clean water to use. Typically, in Son Hai commune (Quynh Luu), the lack of clean water has become an annual concern every summer. Currently, about 2,000/3,446 households in 4/9 hamlets of the commune lack water for daily use. Lack of clean water combined with power outages makes it even more difficult. Mr. Hoang Son - Vice Chairman of Son Hai Commune People's Committee said: This summer, after each power outage and then returning, people are busy buying water for daily use and at the same time running ice, pumping water for fishing boats to go to sea, which is extremely difficult.

People in Son Hai commune (Quynh Luu) take advantage of the electricity grid to pump fresh water for fishing boats. Photo: Viet Hung

In fact, in coastal communes such as Son Hai, Quynh Long, Quynh Tho or Tien Thuy (Quynh Luu), people not only need clean water for daily life but also for fishing boats and can only pump water when there is electricity. The difficulty is that in many areas, even though wells are drilled, the water source only lasts for a few days or the water source is salty and cannot be used.

If a family only buys water for drinking, it costs about 200,000 VND per month to transport about 4m of fresh water.³, but if you shower and do laundry, you need one cart every week and the monthly water bill is up to nearly 1 million VND.

In agricultural areas such as Xuan Lam, Long Xa, Hung Thanh (Hung Nguyen) or Bao Thanh, Son Thanh, My Thanh (Yen Thanh)... although they are irrigation pumping areas ofNorthern Irrigation Systemand Southern Irrigation, but also seriously lack clean water.

In Hamlet 5, Bao Thanh Commune, Mr. Duong Ngoc Toan, who lives near National Highway 7, said: His family runs a restaurant. They used to get clean water from Khanh Thanh Commune Water Plant, but since National Highway 7 was upgraded, the water source has been lost. His family has made a 40m shallow tank.³but still not enough. In 2022, the family spent 12 million VND to drill a well and make a 4.5 million VND filter, but because the water was contaminated with alum and had a fishy smell, it was only used for washing and cleaning; for daily activities and laundry, water had to be bought from Khe May at 50,000 VND/m³, 8 times more expensive than using tap water in Long Thanh commune, only 7,000 VND/m³.

Surveying the quality of well water in hamlet 5, Bao Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). Photo: Nguyen Hai

Meanwhile, Mr. Cao Van Khai's house (74 years old), in hamlet 2, Xuan Lam commune (Hung Nguyen), is only 40m from the Lam river dike, but for decades he has only used rainwater for bathing and washing, and daily drinking water must be taken from Khe Kep (Nam Dan) at a price of 25,000 VND/20 liter bottle. Mr. Khai said: The commune is right next to Lam river, providing clean water for the whole Vinh city and has met the new rural standards, but people living right on the banks of Lam river still do not have clean water to use!

Investment dispersion, management shortcomings

In fact, in the areas we surveyed, within a distance of 5-7 km, there are water plants, but the water plants that were invested and built in the past are only enough to supply each commune and now cannot increase their capacity. For example, in Yen Thanh district, the water plant in Long Thanh commune, if expanded, will only be enough to supply Khanh Thanh commune and cannot supply Bao Thanh and Son Thanh communes. Similarly, in Hung Nguyen district, Hung Tan water plant only supplies Hung Tan commune and part of Hung Thang commune, while Hung Thong water plant with a capacity of 1,000 m³/day and night, if operating only enough for Hung Thong commune.

A gravity-fed water tank in Yen Tinh commune (Tuong Duong) cannot be used due to loss of upstream water source after floods. Photo courtesy of Nghe An Newspaper

Learning more, it is known that since Vietnam became a middle-income country, funding for clean water projects has also disappeared. Due to the limited state budget, Nghe An province only allocates about 1 billion VND each year for maintenance, of which 400 million VND comes fromnational target programso there is no source of investment for new projects.

Mr. Lam Quang Thuong - Director of Nghe An Center for Clean Water and Rural Environmental Sanitation said: Rural clean water is one of the areas that the province prioritizes to attract investment, but because this is a public sector, businesses are not interested.

In the past 5 years, in the province, there has been only 1 private enterprise investing, thereby taking over the clean water supply project from Vuc Mau lake to Hoang Mai town; then, investing in expanding infrastructure to supply water to some communes in Quynh Luu district. In 2022, thanks to the efforts of mobilization, the water plants in Quynh Tho commune (Quynh Luu) and Minh Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) were re-constructed and the water plant in Minh Thanh was put into operation. In addition, the water plant in Dien Hoa commune increased its capacity, so 2,000 more households in Dien Ngoc and Dien Bich communes (Dien Chau) were supplied with clean water.

The representative of the People's Committee of Son Hai Commune (Quynh Luu) also said: In 2022, when learning that the neighboring An Hoa Commune was investing in water supply infrastructure by Hoang Mai Water Plant, the commune contacted to discuss the issue of investing in pipelines but was not able to because it was not in the planning. The commune requested the district to supplement the planning but it was not accepted.

In addition to the above difficulties, the reality is that rural water plants are both in short supply and in excess. The excess is that there are districts where almost every commune has a water plant, but the capacity is limited and cannot be expanded or increased. Specifically, Yen Thanh district has 20 water plants/39 communes and towns; Hung Nguyen district has 8 plants/18 communes and towns, but due to too small capacity or lack of investment capital, or unfinished investment, people do not have water to use.

Pumping station takes water from Dao River to supply Hung Tan Water Plant (Hung Nguyen). Photo: Nguyen Hai

Sustainable management and operation solutions?

The 19th Congress of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee set a target of 60-65% of the rural population using clean water that meets standards by 2025. Currently, clean water according to local standards issued in Decision No. 12/2021/QD-UB of the Provincial People's Committee with 98 indicators, so meeting the standards is not easy.

Mr. Lam Quang Thuong - Director of the Provincial Center for Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation said: Learning from the previous period, according to the Provincial Rural Clean Water Supply Project for the period 2022-2030, only large-capacity water plants will be invested in the direction of supplying to commune clusters and inter-regional areas.

Specifically, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is approaching ODA loans to implement investment in a water plant project with a capacity of 10,000m³/day and night to supply clean water to 6-9 communes in the South of Hung Nguyen district and 1 factory with similar capacity to supply water to 8 communes/15,000 households in the South of Yen Thanh district. In addition, the center also recommended the province to support investment in building a raw water pipeline in Hung Linh commune to bring water from Lam river to Hung Tan water plant to ensure a clean water source for this area.

Mr. Cao Van Khai in Hamlet 2, Xuan Lam Commune introduces the underground water filtration system his family uses. Despite the large investment, the quality still does not meet standards. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Surveys in mountainous districts show that in recent years, due to the impact of climate change, many self-flowing water works in mountainous areas have lost water and cannot be used. Some others, after being handed over and operated, have not been managed and maintained, so they have also been damaged. Therefore, the province has conducted surveys to arrange annual budget estimates for the maintenance and repair of clean water works; and assigned localities to monitor and manage these works to promote their effectiveness.

Along with investing in the treatment system, Quynh Tho Water Plant also renovated the settling pond system and water supply pipes. If the water supply pipes are completed soon, people will have clean water to use this year. Photo: Nguyen Hai

In addition, the province should refer to the experience of investing, managing and operating rural clean water systems in other provinces to manage the rural clean water supply system in a unified manner. Accordingly, it is necessary to check and review the current status of water plants previously invested by communes to unify the management and infrastructure to avoid overlap and waste.