Many parts of Hanoi are facing a severe water supply shortage, while a water treatment plant project using surface water from the Hong (Red) River is moving at a slow pace eight years after its work started.

Over the past few days, tens of thousands of residents in Hanoi have been experiencing water supply interruption, turning their daily life upside down.

Water supply dearths have been hitting Thanh Ha Urban Area in Cu Khe Commune, Thanh Oai District for 10 days. Locals are staying awake throughout the night to fetch water from tank trucks.

Hanoi authorities ordered the Red River surface water treatment plant with a capacity of 300,000 cubic meters per day to be completed in the first quarter of 2024.

The project was set to get off the ground in the fourth quarter of 2015 and to be completed five years later at a total cost of some VND3.7 trillion (US$150.4 million).

The plant was planned to start operation in the first quarter of 2021.

However, the project is nearly 90 percent complete.

The project faced paperwork roadblocks, leading to its slow progress, said an official from the People’s Committee of Dan Phuong District, where it is located.

Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem, vice-chairman of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that Hanoi’s water supply shortage might be widespread.

Nghiem attributed the severe shortage to long-stalled water treatment plant projects, mainly the facility using the surface water source from the Red River, and worsening climate change.

Nguyen Ngoc Diep, chairman of the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association, cited some studies as saying that most groundwater in Hanoi, mainly in the south of the capital city, is contaminated.

During groundwater exploitation for hundreds of years, residents have failed to follow well burying and filling standards, resulting in pollution.

The city is moving toward phasing out groundwater exploitation, while developing major surface water treatment plants to eliminate water pollution and subsidence, Diep said.

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