Losing money still has to spend money
Mr. Quach Hung Thanh, a resident of Soc Trang ward (Can Tho city), indignantly said that each month his family has to spend more than 400,000 VND on water for daily use, of which nearly 1/3 of the water must be discharged because it cannot be used. "Only 2-3 days is the water black, with the smell of alum. When I opened the tap in the morning, the water was cloudy, the family didn't dare to use it, so they had to release it. Sometimes even after an hour of discharging, the water level is still not clear. The most difficult thing is in the morning, the whole family prepares to go to work and school, but the water is like that, which is extremely inconvenient," said Mr. Thanh.
According to him, the situation of water turning black or yellowing occurs frequently, not only the family but many surrounding households also face similar situations. Although it has been reported to the water supply unit many times, the water quality has not improved, causing people to worry about their health and be upset when having to pay for unsecured water sources.
In Phu Loi ward (Can Tho city), Mr. Lieu Dai Dong said that the situation of poor quality domestic water has been going on for many years. "Many days when the tap is opened, the water is black, some days it turns yellow. My family had to take it slow before daring to use it, not daring to release it because it cost money. Everyone here is tired of this situation," Mr. Dong lamented.
Ms. Duong My Linh, who lives in Phu Loi ward (Can Tho city), said that because the tap water was of poor quality, her family only dared to use it for bathing, and had to buy bottled water to cook and drink. "This situation has been going on for too long without improvement. I had to spend nearly 7 million VND to buy a water purifier, but after filtering the water, there was still alum, I didn't dare to use it for cooking," said Ms. Linh.
Mr. Le Quoc Tuan, Head of the Economic, Infrastructure and Urban Affairs Department of Phu Loi Ward, said that the People's Committee of the ward and relevant agencies have received many complaints from people about the weak and poor quality of water, then transferred it to Soc Trang Water Supply Joint Stock Company for handling.
According to Mr. Tuan, the company previously proposed to the old Soc Trang City to invest in more factories and water supply stations to increase water flow and improve water quality for the area. However, due to procedural problems, the company is currently proposing to invest in Ward 5 (old) to supply water to the entire Soc Trang City.
Increase productivity, improve quality
Regarding the situation of poor and poor quality domestic water, Lao Dong Newspaper has recently received many complaints from people in Soc Trang City about the situation of cloudy water with a foul smell and lack of stability. This phenomenon does not only appear during the dry season or Lunar New Year but also lasts throughout the rainy season, causing frustration for local people.
Faced with this reality, the leaders of Soc Trang province have requested Soc Trang Water Supply Joint Stock Company to increase exploitation capacity, coordinate with the Center for Clean Water and Rural Environmental Sanitation to ensure supply.
According to the company, the main causes are saline intrusion, excessive groundwater exploitation and outdated treatment technology. Currently, the unit manages 23 factories, 64 underground water wells, 2 surface water stations with a capacity of more than 91,000 m3/day and night, serving more than 102,000 households. The company is maintaining, replacing old technology and expanding capacity, including operating a deep-floor well at My Xuyen 3 Water Plant, installing a UV disinfection system imported from Canada and requesting to increase the capacity of Cao Thang Water Plant to 5,000 m3/day and night.
In the long term, the company proposed to build a surface water plant in Ho Dac Kien commune, with a capacity of 200,000 m3/day and night, to completely solve the shortage and poor quality of domestic water.
