A series of events will be held in Bắc Ninh Province this week to mark World Water Day 2017, said the Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources. — Photo monre.gov.vn

BẮC NINH — A series of events will be held in Bắc Ninh Province this week to mark World Water Day 2017, said the Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources.

The highlights of the March 21 to 23 events include a national rally, a scientific conference on safe treatment and reuse of wastewater, and an exhibition of photos and wastewater treatment equipment.

The March 22 water day aims to raise awareness of the need to reduce water pollution, reuse water, protect water sources and exploit them effectively, according to the Department of Water Resources Management under the ministry of environment.

Ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all is one of the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to which Việt Nam has expressed its commitments, according to the Việt Nam News Agency.

Within the agenda, by 2030 everyone will have access to safe water resources and have their sanitation conditions improved by reducing the percentage of untreated wastewater and increasing reuse of safe water.

Some 80 per cent of the world’s wastewater from social activities is released into the ecosystems without treatment and reuse.

High-income nations treat some 70 per cent of their wastewater, but the rate only comes to 38 and 28 per cent for nations with above and below average incomes, respectively. Low-income nations treat only some 8 per cent of their wastewater.

Some 1.8 billion people in the world are using unsafe water resources and water with poor sanitation, of which 842,000 die per year.

In Việt Nam, the growing population and the process of urbanisation and industrialisation are creating major pressures on the environment and natural resources. There are currently some 316 industrial parks, 16 coastal economic zones and 2,790 craft villages in the country.

The amount of wastewater released by industrial parks nationwide is some 3 million cu.m per day. Some 70 per cent is released into the environment without treatment. An average of 150,000cu.m of medical wastewater is released from some 13,600 medical units per day nationwide. Only 54 per cent of 1,253 hospitals in the country have medical wastewater treatment systems. — VNS