BÌNH ĐỊNH — A broken water pipe caused by serious floods in south central coastal province of Bình Định one week ago has affected nearly 3,800 households in Tuy Phước District, an official said.

Nguyễn Thanh Hoàng, head of the local management board for clean water and environmental sanitation, said the unit has not yet been able to deal with the break in a section of the clean water pipe crossing Đá Vàng dyke in Phước Nghĩa Commune’s Huỳnh Mai Village because it remained submerged in flood water as of yesterday morning.

"It will take at least five days to fix the pipe after the flood water has receded," Hoàng said.

Earlier, last Tuesday, strong flood waters from upstream and uprooted trees caused the water pipeline to break. The incident resulted in 80 households living in Phước Nghĩa Commune and 3.700 in Phước Thuận Commune losing their supply of clean water for daily use, Dân trí e-newpaper reported.

Without water, residents are forced to temporarily use well water. However, this water source is not safe because it is contaminated with alum and flood water. Local households, therefore, have to buy bottled water for drinking.

Bùi Thị Nga, a resident of Huỳnh Mai Village, Phước Nghĩa Commune, said she had to buy bottled water for cooking, and well water was being used for washing only.

“I have to buy two 10 litre bottles per day for daily use. We hope the local authorities will quickly repair the broken pipeline to provide clean water soon, helping people stabilise their lives,” Điền Thị Phương, a resident of Phước Thuận Commune’s Phổ Trạch Village, said. — VNS