Lack of and contaminated drinking water

(Baonghean)In Dai Son commune (Do Luong district), hundreds of households currently lack access to clean water. In Hamlet 6, nearly 100 households have to live with severely polluted and highly toxic water discharged from U Market (a market for buying and selling cattle).

At each market day in Ú, people gather buffalo and cattle from all over to sell them. At peak times, there can be nearly 1000 animals, and because the market is so crowded, people even bring them out onto the road for buying and selling, stretching for more than 1 km. Buffalo and cattle dung is left everywhere, and the stench is overwhelming. A resident living near the market expressed his frustration: "Every market day, buffalo and cattle 'dispose' of their dung indiscriminately, but the market has no drainage system, no one cleans it up, and this dirty water seeps into the surrounding residential area, seriously affecting the drinking water supply."

Ms. Bay Vinh is washing vegetables in water contaminated by the U market.

Mrs. Bay Vinh, whose house is near the market, was washing vegetables and lamenting, "Look, every well is pitch black because it's contaminated with cow and buffalo manure. When we boil water for drinking, it forms a film on the surface and smells terrible, and bathing in it causes unbearable itching." Ms. Chung, who lives next door, confided, "For the past few days, my family has had to go to another village to get water for daily use because the well water is so polluted it's unusable." Many households here don't dare use their dug wells and have spent 2-3 million dong drilling to depths of over 30 meters to avoid pollution, but unfortunately, there's no groundwater source. Some families have drilled 3-5 boreholes without finding water. Mr. Tinh, the head of Hamlet 6, added: "Some households in Hamlet 6, even though they are 300-500 meters away from the U market area, still have polluted well water with a strong, foul odor."

It is known that, besides Hamlet 6 which suffers from severe water pollution, Hamlets 7, 9, 10, and others, with over 170 households, still face a serious shortage of clean water. Many households have to share dug wells, and the number of households using rainwater storage tanks remains low due to the impoverished living conditions of the residents. Due to the water shortage, many people in Dai Son have to go to reservoirs and lakes to bathe and wash clothes. Mr. Dang Si Quy, head of Hamlet 7, added: "Out of 220 households in the hamlet, only 20% have rainwater tanks, and nearly 10 have drilled wells. Even the dug wells, despite being used extensively this season, are running dry. Therefore, the residents earnestly hope for government support in building rainwater storage tanks."

Mr. Nguyen Phuc Thanh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Dai Son commune, said: Dai Son does not have a natural water source; people mainly use water from wells and reservoirs, so there is still a severe shortage of water for daily use. Regarding water pollution in the U market area, there is still no solution to address it. The commune urgently needs the government to invest in building a clean water plant to meet the water needs of the residents.

Van Truong