LookAtVietnam – The Ministry of Construction has sought approval for a VND9.4 trillion (US$494 million) project to reduce water loss.

The saving of fresh water would help decrease demand for money to build new water plants and the cost of their management.

Many people tapped pipelines to illegally withdraw water for their use and save their money, he said.

The result was inefficiency and broken pipelines.

The implementation of building projects without plans and information about the underground pipeline networks added to the damage.

But old leaking pipelines were the major cause of the loss.

Up to 30 per cent of the pipes were 30 to 40 years old.

Saving fresh water

Deputy Construction Minister Cao Lai Quang said the project’s target was to reduce water leakage to 15 per cent within 15 years with the equivalent of 1.3 million cubic metres saved each day.

The saving of fresh water would help decrease demand for money to build new water plants and the cost of their management, he said.

This would lower, the water prices.

The project would focus on improving the pipeline network and meters to prevent leakage from obsolete pipelines.

The ministry would gather the technical and historical details of Viet Nam’s pipeline systems and the number and quality of water meters.

It would also use global positioning to manage the pipeline and meter networks.

Officers with responsibility for tightening the water-supply system and preventing losses would be deployed.

The deputy minister said improving the management capacity of municipal authorities would be a focus of the project because the operation of existing water systems was unscientific and unplanned and this caused water loss.

The project would also teach people about the need to save fresh water.

Those who informed about pipeline violations would be rewarded and those who ruined the water system punished.

Ha Noi and HCM City suffer the heaviest water losses.

The two cities account for almost half of all the water used throughout Viet Nam.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News