Clean water for rural areas - A difficult problem!

(Baonghean) - In many rural areas, their constant concern is still how to have water for daily use, especially during hot weather. Meanwhile, solving the problem of clean water for rural areas through the National Target Program for Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation is also facing difficulties due to lack of capital.

The weather is only at the end of spring, but the worry of lack of water for daily use has been on the minds of people in Hung Trung commune, Hung Nguyen district. Because, every summer, when the sky is "empty" of heavy rains, the familiar "sky water" tanks in every family in the countryside are also gradually empty.

The water tank filtered from the well of Nguyen Huu Hop's family is stained due to alum contamination.

In early March this year, Mr. Hoang Duc Luu in hamlet 9a had to spend 300,000 VND to buy 2.6 cubic meters of clean water transported by a tanker from Vinh to sell. The habit of buying water is so common that right on the wall of Mr. Luu's water tank, there is a phone number of a water seller in Vinh printed. Mr. Luu said that with that phone number, he can call whenever he wants to buy water and they will deliver it right away. But the water he buys must be used sparingly and economically, mainly for washing rice, drinking water, and for bathing and washing clothes, he uses well water.

Why don't you use well water? - I asked. "Not only my family, but almost all of Hung Trung commune's well water is salty. The water is brackish so it can't be used for cooking or drinking. Last Tet, my children from Hanoi came back to give their parents a washing machine but they didn't dare accept it. Rainwater is not enough to use, and well water is afraid it will damage the machine," he lamented.

Many households can only rely on "heaven's water" to save their daily life. For example, the family of Nguyen Huu Hop (28 years old), also in hamlet 9a, has invested in 3 1.5 cubic meter tanks and 1 3 cubic meter filter tank to collect rainwater. According to Mr. Hop, those tanks are only enough to store rainwater for 5 people to use sparingly, serving the most basic needs. If there is a severe drought or little rain, they have to buy water. Like Mr. Luu's family, Mr. Hop's family also has water from a 32 meter deep well, but it is only used for bathing and washing, even though it has been filtered.

The whole Hung Trung commune has 15 hamlets with more than 9,000 people, but almost every family "strives to build tanks to collect rainwater. And as discussed with Mr. Hoang Duc Luu - hamlet chief of hamlet 9a: "The biggest wish is to have a clean water supply project, because now the village wells are all polluted and unusable. Not many families can afford to buy water, the price is too high". Surely this is also the wish of nearly ten thousand people in Hung Trung and many other rural areas.

Mr. Phan Bui My - Director of the Provincial Center for Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation on clean water investment projects for rural areas in the province said: On average, investment in a clean water project costs from 16 to 17 billion VND, the State supports 60%, the people contribute 40%. As for Hung Trung (Hung Nguyen), it is not less than 20 billion VND. With such a contribution rate, mobilizing contributions from people in rural areas is very difficult, because the majority of the economy is still poor. Besides, Nghe An is too large, the terrain is complex. The population is dense and distributed complicatedly by region, so the construction of clean water projects is extremely difficult.

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An, by the end of 2011, according to the temporary criteria of the province, the percentage of the rural population using clean water for daily life was 83%, the target was 85%; and according to the evaluation criteria of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, it only reached 64%. It is noteworthy that of this 64%, only 24.5% of the population used water that met the clean criteria of the Ministry of Health.

Rural areas are being affected by changes in climate, environment, and resources, including significant declines in water resources. Therefore, ensuring clean water for rural areas is necessary to contribute to improving the quality of life of millions of people.

Thanh Duy