The water storage and clean water treatment system at Tân Hiệp Water Plant in HCM City's Hóc Môn District is checked every hour. Photo courtesy of tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY - HCM City plans to build a new reservoir to cope with the shortage of clean water and ensure residents' quality of life.

The city's water supply industry has submitted a plan to build a reservoir with a capacity of 5 million m3, which could provide clean water to the people of HCM City within seven days.

It is expected to be built 1km upstream from the confluence of the Sài Gòn and Thị Tính rivers in order to avoid pollution and saltwater intrusion. 

The head of the water supply management department of Saigon Water Corporation (SAWACO), Trần Kim Thạch, said that water quality is seriously affected by storms, floods, unusual droughts and environmental pollution.

Thạch suggested short-term solutions such as adjusting the flow of water from reservoirs to ensure uninterrupted water supply.

He told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper that the water supply industry in the city had always been closely related to two reservoirs upstream of the Sài Gòn River (Dầu Tiếng Lake) and Đồng Nai River (Trị An Lake).

All involved parties every day inform one another about the quality level of the river water. When an incident occurs that pollutes water sources, the upstream river reservoir will discharge clean water to dilute and wash away the pollution in the water.

During a recent seminar, water supply experts from Taiwan (China), Japan, Korea, Singapore, Bangladesh and Israel expressed concern about the decline of clean water sources due to climate change.

HCM City stressed the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in limiting the source of clean water globally, especially in parts of the US where people are experiencing a severe drought in the summer of 2021.

A prolonged drought since 2020 has also brought challenges to Taiwan's water supply companies. Extremely low rainfall has made it difficult to store clean water.

Singapore, with a rapidly growing population and limited resources, has prepared multiple solutions to provide clean water for domestic and industrial activities, including turning seawater into fresh water for locals to use.

Meanwhile, in HCM City, experts are worried about saline intrusion, flooding and pollutant discharge, which affect clean water supply. Together with irregular rainfall caused by climate change, the city will soon face water shortages similar to what Bangkok has been experiencing.

The amount of the city's groundwater reserve is decreasing due to long-term over-exploitation. VNS