Many raw water intake points in Nghe An are polluted.

On October 4, a leader of the People's Committee of Hung Nguyen district said that the locality had just received an official dispatch from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment warning about the quality of raw water supplied to water supply stations and water plants.

Not only Hung Nguyen district, this document was also sent to the People's Committees of the districts: Yen Thanh, Quy Hop, Thanh Chuong, Quynh Luu, Tan Ky, Nghi Loc, Nam Dan, Dien Chau, Cua Lo town, Thai Hoa town, Hoang Mai town and water supply companies and units. These are the localities that detected pollution after monitoring raw water samples.

According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, based on the analysis of raw water quality input to domestic water supply plants in the province reported by the Center for Natural Resources and Environment Monitoring, it shows that the surface water quality at some water supply points for domestic water production plants continues to show signs of pollution by common organic and inorganic compounds (BOD5, COD, TSS, NH4+, NO2-) and metals (As, Cd, Fe, Mn). TSS (total suspended solids) pollution occurs widely with 10/16 monitoring points exceeding the standard from 1.04 to 7.52 times. The highest is the water supply point of Hung Nguyen district, with samples taken for monitoring in the surface water of Dao River, passing through Hung Nguyen town. This is where the water plant is located to supply domestic water to hundreds of thousands of households in Vinh city and surrounding areas.

In addition, pollution by BOD5, COD recurred with 6/16 BOD5 values ​​and 10/16 COD values ​​not meeting the requirements with the level exceeding the standards in most samples approximately 2 times. Pollution by metals (As, Cd, Fe, Mn) appeared at 7/16 monitoring points, with the level exceeding the standards ranging from 1.06 - 20.3 times. Most notably, atQuy Hop district water supply point, As index exceeded 20.3 times.

At the Hung Nguyen district water monitoring point, 7 parameters exceeded the standards; at the Cua Lo town water monitoring point, 6 parameters did not meet the requirements. The remaining points had 1-4 parameters that did not meet the requirements.

To protect domestic water sources in the locality, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment requests the People's Committees of districts, cities and towns to direct the commune level to propagate, organize implementation and thoroughly disseminate the Law on Water Resources 2023, Decree 53/2024/ND-CP dated May 16, 2024, Decree 54/2024/ND-CP dated May 16, 2024 of the Government and related legal documents on mass media and other appropriate forms; in which, focusing on disseminating and thoroughly disseminating to organizations and individuals exploiting and using water resources in the area to ensure strict implementation of legal provisions. Well implement Official Dispatch No. 6101/UBND.NN dated September 9, 2020 of the Provincial People's Committee on continuing to implement water resources planning and legal documents related to organizations and individuals operating in the area to protect water resources.

At the same time, thoroughly collect domestic waste generated along rivers, streams, canals, ditches, reservoirs, etc.; propagate and raise people's awareness of environmental protection, collect waste in the right place, do not dump waste into rivers, canals in upstream areas and raw water intake areas for domestic water supply.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment also proposed to strengthen the inspection of water quality at the water supply points for water supply stations and domestic water factories, strictly prohibiting organizations and individuals from discharging wastewater and bringing waste into the sanitary protection area of ​​the domestic water intake area as prescribed in Article 10, Circular 03/2024/TT-BTNMT dated May 16, 2024 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; recommending competent authorities to handle organizations and individuals with violations that seriously affect the quality of water sources in rivers, streams, canals, ditches, reservoirs, etc.

On the part of investors of water supply stations and domestic water plants, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment requires regular monitoring and supervision of the quality of domestic water sources and ensuring the quality of the water sources they exploit. There is a plan to exploit other water sources to replace in case of pollution incidents of the exploited domestic water sources. Those who discover acts of destruction and pollution of domestic water sources are responsible for preventing and promptly reporting to the competent State agency for handling.

According to the report of the Center for Natural Resources and Environment Monitoring, this monitoring period has 16 raw water intake points sampled. The results show that only the water supply point in Thach Giam town (Tuong Duong) has 100% of parameters meeting standards./.