So that workers no longer "thirsty" for clean water

Use well water because it is cheap

At a boarding house in Bau (Kim Chung commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi), the boarding house owner said that the workers in the area use well water. According to the landlord's explanation, before the construction, this area did not have a clean water pipe to connect. In addition, this land is in a project, the business is "day by day", she does not want to invest more. The room rental price here is 600,000 VND/room/month.

According to observations, well water is pumped to a water storage tank above, then transferred to the common toilet and laundry area for workers. Tenants can use well water freely, paying 50,000 VND/month.

When asked about the water quality, the landlady confirmed that the water here is very clear and safe. “Workers only use well water for bathing, washing, and cleaning; for drinking water, they buy bottled water from shops,” said the landlady.

The owner of a grocery store near the boarding house said that the first time a worker buys water, he pays 60,000 VND (of which 50,000 VND is for the bottle and 10,000 VND is for the water). After that, the user only needs to pay 10,000 VND each time to exchange the water.

At another nearby boarding house, the owner designed two water taps: tap water and well water. Ms. Le Thi Sang (name changed) - the owner of the boarding house - said that many workers in the boarding house still choose to use well water to save costs.

“If we use well water , each adult pays 50,000 VND/month, not including children. My husband and I pay 100,000 VND/month. If we use tap water, with the price of 25,000 VND/cubic meter, the family uses about 15 cubic meters, so the amount can be up to nearly 400,000 VND/month” - said a female worker renting a room here.

In Hiep Thanh Ward, Thu Dau Mot City (Binh Duong), many boarding houses that have been operating for over 15 years are still using water from drilled wells. It was noted that at a boarding house in Quarter 7, Hiep Thanh Ward, 40 rooms use well water for daily activities. The landlord said that the advantage of using this water source is that they only have to pay for electricity, maintenance of machinery and pipes; each tenant only pays about 10,000 VND/month.

Ms. Le Thi Thuy Van (28 years old, from Ninh Thuan, living in Quarter 7, Hiep Thanh Ward, Thu Dau Mot City), shared: "Every month, my room spends 10,000-20,000 VND on water, this is a very beneficial payment for workers. However, the water is pumped directly from the ground to the tank, sometimes the water has sand residue, other days it has a yellow film like it is contaminated with alum".

In Ben Cat City (Binh Duong), many dormitories for workers next to My Phuoc 1, 2, 3 Industrial Parks still use drilled wells. The landlord pumps water into a 2-4m3 tank placed high up to create pressure for distribution to the dormitories. Mr. Nguyen Van Hung (34 years old, from Thanh Hoa, living in a dormitory next to My Phuoc 3 Industrial Park, in Thoi Hoa Ward) said that the water pumped from drilled wells is often contaminated with alum.

In Dong Nai province, there are about 700,000 workers working in industrial parks, but most of them live in boarding houses.

According to current statistics, Dong Nai province has more than 20,000 boarding houses with about 150,000 rooms, meeting the needs of over 450,000 people. In boarding houses, some places do not ensure hygiene, fire safety, and workers do not have access to clean water or use well water to save costs.

Mr. LNN is the owner of about 200 rooms in Thanh Phu commune, Vinh Cuu district. In his boarding house, although there are many workers, they still use well water.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Van, the owner of a boarding house in Hamlet 1, Thanh Phu Commune, Vinh Cuu District, also said that in her boarding house, most workers use well water for bathing and washing; workers buy water from outside for cooking. Ms. Van said that the price of well water is 6,000 VND/cubic meter.

Unsafe water source

According to the study: "Housing issues for migrant workers - Current situation and solutions" recently conducted by the Institute of Workers and Trade Unions, the Management Board of Trade Union Institutions Project (Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) in collaboration with the Institute for Urban Research and Infrastructure Development, in terms of water sources, most households near industrial parks have tap water for use, however, 20.1% of workers said that currently, in order to save costs, they use water from drilled wells, open wells, earthen wells, rainwater or even water from rivers and streams (with filtration systems) for daily activities. When asked, up to 9.7% of workers said that this water source is not safe and hygienic if used for a long time.

This study was conducted in provinces and cities with many industrial parks, a large labor force, especially migrant workers; and in areas with investment policies to develop trade union institutional projects. The North includes: Bac Giang, Ha Nam; the Central region: Da Nang, Quang Tri; the South: Tien Giang, Binh Duong, with a sample size of 1,184 people.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Binh Duong province said that to protect groundwater resources, the sector has investigated, reviewed and counted, and filled damaged and unused wells to protect groundwater resources. The whole province has filled more than 4,500 damaged and unused wells. It has required 203 organizations to fill 258 drilled wells, switch to centralized water supply in prohibited areas, and limit groundwater exploitation...

The People's Committee of Binh Duong province also said that the province has issued regulations on prohibited areas, restricted areas, and registered areas for underground water exploitation. At the same time, Binh Duong Water - Environment Joint Stock Company was assigned to speed up the progress of covering the centralized water supply network in areas with restricted underground water exploitation. In particular, it is necessary to cover the water supply network in densely populated cities and cities with migrant workers living in rented accommodation such as Thu Dau Mot, Thuan An, Di An, Tan Uyen, and Ben Cat.

According to the plan, by the end of 2025 at the latest, Dong Nai province will stop exploiting groundwater to provide clean water for people with two purposes: protecting groundwater resources and increasing the percentage of households using tap water.