Most surface water sources in Ho Chi Minh City have been polluted

According to calculations by scientists, if you treat the current water resources, by 2030 - 2035, HCMC will run out of water resources.

Fresh water in Ho Chi Minh City is not lacking, but its availability is not high: Rain is flooded and the City seeks to push this water to the sea , while groundwater is declining and sunshine is dry.

Saving, protecting and supplementing water resources are an urgent issue set by scientists at the workshop ' Water for urban development ' held in Ho Chi Minh City on March 21.

Ground subsidence due to underground water exploitation (Photo: Ngoc Anh)

Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said most surface water sources in Ho Chi Minh City have been polluted , exceeding Class B standards by 5 to 10 times. while groundwater is decreasing both in quality and quantity. The natural cycle of water is unbalanced.

According to Nguyen Van Nga, Head of Water Resources Management Department - Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment, currently there are more than 257,000 underground water exploitation wells, mainly wells in households and organizations. small scale mining. Water flow rate of 607,000 m3 / day is still within the permitted capacity, but due to the concentrated exploitation with large flows in the southwest of the city, many consequences such as depletion in reserve and quality, lowering the ground entails flooding, affecting the living environment of the people.

The monitoring results of the Center for Water Resources Monitoring and Forecasting (under the Water Resource Planning and Investigation Center - Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) have recently shown that, in some big cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong and Hon Gai, Vinh, Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu . underground water sources are showing signs of depletion, pollution and salinity. The water level of the exploited aquifers is lowered continuously over time.

Typically, in Hanoi, the water level of Pleistocene layer is lowered at 0.4m / year; Ho Chi Minh City is 0.6m / year; Ca Mau is 1m / year . Contamination of groundwater sources is observed in Hanoi, Lang Son, Dong Hoi and Ho Chi Minh City .; land subsidence in Hanoi; HCMC; Hoai Duc area (HN); Cam Lo (Quang Tri) .

Minh Cuong

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment acknowledges that at present, it has not fully grasped the underground water exploitation works and the quality of water used by exploiting people; Exploration, drilling practice and unlicensed exploitation are still widespread. Therefore, after 2020, underground water is only exploited in three districts: 12, 9, Thu Duc and two districts of Hoc Mon and Cu Chi.

According to Dr. Che Dinh Ly, Deputy Director of Institute of Environment - Resources (IER of Vietnam National University of Ho Chi Minh City), we are now using overly expensive water, tap water for both washing cars and watering plants. . Therefore, the selling price of water should be at a reasonable level, avoiding subsidies so that people have a sense of saving water. In rich countries like the US and Western Europe, they all store rainwater for these needs.

In Ho Chi Minh City, just every household with a reservoir of about 2 m ^{3 of} water to use for their needs without clean water is enough to reduce flooding for the city. In agriculture, using drip irrigation, using plastic bags coated with water-proof evaporation are very simple solutions to save water.

At the level of state management, there should be sanctions to reduce concrete surface to absorb water, plant trees in the garden should choose drought resistant plants and for large buildings forced to build storage and use use rainwater.

Meanwhile, the research group of Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Ky - Head of Geology - Petroleum Department (Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology) has proposed a breakthrough solution: ' artificially supplementing groundwater with water rain '.

Through analysis, the quality of rainwater is collected on the roof completely ensured by the Ministry of Health's standards, but the rain water is 'dirty' but it is cleaner than river water. Therefore, this water source will be collected to serve for drinking, eating and living of people and artificially replenish the aquifers.

Through research, the addition of artificial groundwater can be equal to the amount of water we are invading.