Pollution in the Dong Nai River, the main water source for millions of people in the southern region, was a hot topic again at a recent working session of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council.
Vo Quang Chau, Deputy General Director of the Saigon Water Corporation (SAWACO), warned of the deteriorating quality of the river’s water. “The pollution problem in the river is becoming more complicated,” he told the municipal legislature.
The warning was based on statistics from regular Dong Nai River water tests conducted over the last 5 years across 12 cities and provinces in the Central Highlands and southern regions.
The 437-kilometer Dong Nai River, which supplies water to around 15 million people, originates in Lam Dong Province's Lang Biang highlands and flows toward the East Sea through Dak Nong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, HCMC, Long An and Tien Giang provinces.
But the dumping of industrial and household waste and waste water into the river has overrun it with harmful elements, including bacteria and ammonia, at levels ten times higher than regulations permit.
The worsening pollution in the river is not only a danger to our residents’ health but it is also financially irresponsible as it is costing more and more money to run more water treatment plants to clean the river water and make it useable.
According to SAWACO leaders, to date, the water quality for daily use still meets with relevant standards, however, “in the long term, it will be quite hard [for SAWACO] to process the polluted water if the situation is not improved.”
The corporation called on local authorities and relevant agencies to take urgent measures to control pollution in the river by conducting regular checks at industrial parks and factories near the waterway. The company also suggested establishing more water quality check points, and asked that industrial parks treat waste water before discharging it into the river.
People’s Council deputy Tran Du Lich said it was time to solve the pollution problem at its root, a task that he said would require smooth cooperation between provinces and cities.
He said that although Ho Chi Minh City had invested huge sums of money in dredging and cleaning the Ba Bo Canal in Binh Duong Province, many manufacturers and industrial parks were still discharging untreated waste water into the river. “[If this way continues], any amount of money poured into the dredging will be useless.”
Pham Phuong Thao, head of the HCMC People’s Council, said the council would ask the National Assembly’s Standing Committee, the central government, ministries and local governments to discuss the issue and come up with solutions.
She stressed that solving the Dong Nai River pollution problem should be a national project in terms of significance and urgency.
To save the water source for millions of people, action speaks louder than words. Authorities should be consistent in their action, otherwise the proposed solutions will fall into oblivion.
