Hanoi will give priority
to projects to explore water from the Red, Duong and Da rivers, since the
underground water resources have been exhausted.

The capital for
these projects is estimated at over VND7.86 trillion or $393 million for the
period of 2011-2015.

Le Van Duc, deputy
director of the Hanoi Department of Construction, Hanoi’s demand for clean water reaches around
965,500 cu.m a day. It will rise to over 1.23 million cu.m a day by 2015.

To meet the rising
need for clean water, Hanoi will build the Red River water supply plant and
Duong River water plant, while raise the capacity of the Da River water supply
plant.

According to the
Hanoi Clean Water Company, the capital city’s underground water resources have
been exhausted, especially in the dry season. The input cost for exploring
underground water, thus, has increased extensively, causing losses for the
company.

The $393 million
plan to exploit river water has been submitted to the Hanoi authorities for approval. Accordingly,
the entire residents of ten urban districts and Son Tay town will be supplied
with tap water.

Hanoi, the second biggest city in Vietnam,
with 6.5 million people, currently has four water works which provide nearly
700,000 cubic meters per day.

The majority of the
city’s water comes from underground reserves, and only a small percentage came
from the surface.

Overexploitation of
underground reserves would have a massive effect on the city’s strata, and
cause depressions on construction sites and in urban areas.

PV