Water pollution at the Da River water plant. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — Shares of the Vinaconex Water Supply Joint Stock Company (Viwasupco) fell sharply on Thursday after a series of reports about contaminated tap water, which cut VNĐ127 billion (US$5.4 million) from the company’s market capitalisation in one day.

Viwasupco shares (VCW) closed Thursday down 4.9 per cent, trading at VNĐ33,000 per share, meaning that each share dropped VNĐ1,700.

With 75 shares circulating on the market, VCW lost VNĐ127.5 billion in market capitalisation value.

In the past 12 trading days, VCW has declined a total of 5.7 per cent, which means that each share has lost VNĐ2,000.

In the first half of this year, VCW had impressive business results. The company achieved revenue of nearly VNĐ264 billion and pre-tax profit of VNĐ133 billion.

In 2018, VCW’s revenue reached VNĐ469 billion, up 13.3 per cent year-on-year, while pre-tax profit touched more than VNĐ230 billion.

The company provides 300,000 cubic meters per day for the entire southwestern part of Hà Nội, including Thanh Xuân, Hoàng Mai, Cầu Giấy, Hà Đông and several downtown districts.

But for a week now, concerns have been raised by residents over a pungent smell coming from their tap water. 

Many people residing in the districts of Hà Đông, Hòang Mai, Nam Từ Liêm and Thanh Xuân have complained that their tap water smelled of chemicals and burned plastic since October 8.

The foul odour has lingered for days, prompting residents to stop using the water for cooking and drinking. Some urban areas in the city even bought bottled water for their residents.

A truck was seen dumping used oil into a mountain creek in Phú Minh Commune, Kỳ Sơn District of Hòa Bình Province – a northwestern neighbour of Hà Nội on Tuesday last week, the Việt Nam Environment Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said Monday.

The creek is on an upstream section of the Đà River, the biggest branch of the Red River, which supplies water to VCW's water tanks.

Tests of the polluted water found high levels of styrene.

While locals voiced concerns over the quality of the foul tap water, the municipal agencies and VCW could not offer any solutions or explanation to the residents.

VCW currently has two large shareholders, Gelex Energy One Member Limited Liability Company, which owns 60.46 per cent and Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Joint Stock Company (REE), which owns 35.95 per cent. — VNS