Pollution in Ba Bo canal (HCMC): Terrible truth!

The shallow layer of groundwater of an entire area could no longer be used; many corrugated iron roofs of the houses were ' burned ' . And even though the area was 15-19m high compared to the sea level, in the rainy season the large area was flooded, causing misery to many people. That is the pollution situation in Ba Bo canal, Thu Duc district (HCMC).

' Fire ' . both aquifers and aquifers

Now this channel is also called by many other names: rotten canal, dead channel . The terrible polluted water flows here and there throughout the year and the last receiving place is Saigon River.

At Ba Bo sluice (Binh Chieu ward, Thu Duc district), we saw a block of white foam, about 2 - 3m high, puffed on the culvert mouth. The foam was born from the stinking black water. The people living around this rotten bark moan sighed: 'those bubbles keep flying every time there is wind, they land on the roof as the whole thing.'

'Sun roofing can be used for two years, instead of being broken, holes .' - Mr. Nguyen Chuong Duong, a resident living here, sighed. People living along the channel of Ba Bo said that because of the water of this canal is too polluted, they can mix in many different chemicals, when the water evaporates to the roof as a religious item and damages some common items. day.

Area near the end of Ba Bo channel, thick black, stinking, bubbling foam meter . (Photo: Quoc Thanh)

Mr. Duong said in the watershed of Ba Bo canal, groundwater is completely broken. The well is 30 - 35m deep, the water is no longer usable, it must be drilled 70m or more . However, he said 'I feel that there is no strange smell but just use it, I don't know if it is safe and there is a chemical toxic or not . '.

In this area, most of the households do not have clean water to use, the water source is groundwater, but the 'groundwater source is completely polluted', the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thu Duc District People's Committee receive.

The number startled

Canal Ba Bo was considered a dead canal.In other words, in many sections of this channel there is no life because the measured dissolved oxygen (in water) in 2006 shows that 'all measurement points have dissolved oxygen concentrations that do not meet the water standards. Category B, and fresh water quality standards to protect aquatic life '.Dissolved oxygen values ​​fluctuate in the range

0 - 2.2 mg / l - 'this level is very low, causing most fish to die'.

Results of analysis of water samples taken along Ba Bo canal gave a startling number: microbes exceeded the highest permissible standards by 11,000 times (compared to surface water standards, type B). In comparison with the Vietnamese standard for irrigation water (for areas where vegetables and other plants are used for fresh and raw plants), the fecal coliform bacteria - the risk of causing digestive diseases - exceeds the permitted standard. 450 times or more. Ho Chi Minh City Department of Environmental Protection warns: 'This is the most interesting issue and it is necessary to warn, because the area of ​​agricultural land along the Ba Bo canal area uses the water source of the canal to irrigate. Fresh vegetables grown in the area . '.

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Environmental Protection especially noted 'increased levels of microorganisms from 40 to 70 times have shown that microorganisms here are getting higher and higher'. Specifically, the 2006 measurement results showed that the microbiological content exceeded millions of times. In 2007, the 'health' of Ba Bo canal is being monitored closely by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Environmental Protection and continuously has bad environmental warnings in this area.

According to specialized agencies, Ba Bo canal is polluted due to the huge amount of waste water, which can be up to tens of thousands of cubic meters per day in Dong An and Song Than industrial parks in Binh Duong province. about. The cause of pollution has been identified but it is never known when it will be overcome!

QUOC THANH