HÀ NỘI — About three million people in Phù Đổng and Trung Mầu villages in Gia Lâm district, Hà Nội will have access to the first drinkable tap water in Việt Nam when a factory comes into operation on October 10.

The factory will take water from the bottom of the Đuống River that runs next to the villages.

In the first phase of the factory’s operation, clean water will be supplied to about three million people with the capacity of 150,000cu.m per day and then increase to 300,000cu.m per day. In the second phase, the capacity will hit 400,000cu.m per day. Đỗ Văn Đinh, project manager, told the Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that this factory can replace other water supply units if necessary.

The clean water supply situation in Hà Nội has improved a lot. Almost 3.26 million people living in 12 inner districts have access to clean water from the city’s water factories, Lê Văn Dục, director of the Department of Construction, told the Kinh Tế Đô Thị (Urban Economy) newspaper.

He also said in rural areas, the rate of people who have access to clean water increased from 37 per cent to almost 52 per cent in less than two years, from 2016 to May 2018. This number will continue to rise as by the end of 2018, the city will finish building water supply to 61,000 households with 244,000 people, raising the rate to 55 per cent.

About ten years ago, people in Hà Nội still feared prolonged water cuts during summer, especially those at the end of water channels or on higher terrains. To those living on the outskirts such as Gia Lâm, Sóc Sơn, Đông Anh districts, the term ‘tap water’ seemed out of reach.

Nguyễn Đức Miện, living in Hàng Bè Street in the centre of Hà Nội remembers: “We had to stay up late and wake up early to pump or catch water in our tanks and buckets to use during the day.

“The reason is because the water pressure in this area is weak since we are near the dyke and the terrain is high. The water is stronger in early morning or late night.” Now, Miên says the water supply has improved considerably.

Hà Nội is determined to give all people in rural areas access to clean water. The city plans to finish four water supply projects in 2018 that will increase water capacity by 335,000cu.m per day. Seven other projects are expected to finish from 2019 to 2020, increasing the capacity by 1 million cu.m per day.

Currently, total water supply of all factories in Hà Nội reaches 900,000cu.m per day, while in peak periods during summer last year, people’s consumption exceeds one million cu.m per day. — VNS