The water smells fishy, people are worried
For about 15 years, more than 100 households in Resettlement Area C, Pham Van Dong University (residential group 15, Cam Thanh ward, Quang Ngai province) have mainly used water from the domestic water supply system provided by Quang Ngai Water Supply and Construction Joint Stock Company. However, for about 7 years now, this water source has started to be heavily contaminated with alum, turning cloudy yellow, with a fishy smell, causing people to worry.
Although paying clean water purchase fees regularly every month, people here still have to live in anxiety. Mr. Le Tan Trung's family (born in 1958) is one of the households that has to use two sources of water in parallel: well water used for washing and bathing, and tap water used for cooking.
My family has lived in this area for 16 years. In the early years, tap water was used normally, with only a slightly low pressure. However, later on, the water turned yellow, black and accumulated a lot of sediment," Mr. Trung worriedly said.
Sharing about this situation, Mr. Vo Quang Hien (resident in Resettlement Area C) said that although he has to pay about 500,000 VND per month for tap water and invest in an additional industrial filtration system, his family still has to buy more bottled mineral water to serve cooking.
Recently, when the water supply unit carried out repairs, people discovered that the underground pipes buried under the asphalt road had rotted. Looking at the seriously degraded underground water pipe system, people were very worried and did not dare to use it for eating and drinking anymore.
Sharing the same situation, Mr. Bach Ngoc Vu had to install up to 3 filtration systems, from industrial general filtration to household water purifiers. However, after only about two weeks of use, the filter cores and equipment have all turned black, covered with dirt.
Even though we have to replace core continuously, my family still cannot be assured. If we do not go through a filtration system, we are forced to use completely unsafe water sources," Mr. Vu worried.
People here added that they have to continuously wash the filter tank and tank 2-3 days a week due to the excessive amount of alum and sediment. Using polluted water for a long time poses a risk of disease, directly affecting health.
Calculate a plan to replace the entire pipeline
Faced with the people's frustrations, Quang Ngai Water Supply and Drainage and Construction Joint Stock Company has coordinated with local authorities and related units to organize meetings to discuss and find solutions. Through assessment, the pipeline system has been used for many years, some sections of zinc pipes are rusty, and incidents occur that affect water quality. The water supply unit has coordinated with the Provincial Center for Disease Control to take samples for testing.
Mr. Nguyen Dang Do, Director of Quang Ngai Water Supply and Drainage and Construction Joint Stock Company, said that the temporary solution while waiting for remediation is to increase discharge weekly, even daily, to avoid stagnant water affecting local quality.
In the long term, if the local authorities agree, the company will replace the entire network of pipelines in this area to ensure safe water supply for people. Domestic water pipelines in the eastern central wards of Quang Ngai province have sections that have been used for decades, so there are currently some pipelines that are too old, not ensuring quality and flow. Therefore, the company is having a roadmap to gradually replace them in areas that have been used for many years.
