LookAtVietnam – Inefficient water supply networks are resulting in the loss of almost a third of the clean water pumped to homes and businesses across the nation, according to the Viet Nam Water Supply and Sewerage Association.

Viet Nam has lost 32 per cent of its clean water supply to inefficient networks, while many rural residents go without clean water.

Ton said the alarming statistic was revealed in the annual reports of the association’s members, including water supply and sewerage companies nationwide.

The largest loss of water occurs in Ha Noi and HCM City. The two cities account for nearly half of all water use across the nation, yet they are also needlessly losing almost 40 per cent of their water supplies.

Data shows Thua Thien-Hue city and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces are losing the least amount of water, with a 14 per cent loss each, while in Binh Dinh Province water loss is at 16 per cent.

The main reasons for the water loss are old leaky pipelines. Up to 10 per cent of water pipelines were 30 to 40 years old, said Ton.

The substantial water loss means that households at the end of the water pipeline systems suffer water shortages.

Le Van Sang, who lives in Thanh Xuan District, said that the location of his home on the water supply network meant he has to cope with water shortages.

“This makes many residents in a similar situation desperate, and some even break the pipelines to get water,” said Sang.

“This in turn makes the water shortage even worse.”

However, repairing old pipelines requires a lot of work and funding, according to Ton.

“We can only repair some parts of the system because building a water pipeline system that meets national standards costs thousands of billions dong,” he said.

The association had asked local authorities to make sure construction and other projects do not affect water pipelines, said Ton.

Clean water companies in 20 provinces promised to decrease the volume of lost water to below 20 per cent.

The volume of lost clean water is at an average of 15 per cent in developed countries.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News