Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi will build 39 plants for common wastewater treatment in urban centers from now until 2030 in a move to ease environmental pollution. The wastewater treatment plants, part the city’s newly-approved water drainage development master plan worth VND116.5 trillion ($5.49 billion), aim to deal with the frequent flooding and improve environmental sanitation for local residents. Accordingly, such 39 plants will be built for urban centers in Hanoi and surrounding areas with a total daily capacity of 1.8 million cu.m by 2030 and 2.5 million cu.m by 2050. The plan covers the entire drainage system of Hanoi’s administrative boundaries with a total area of 3,344.47sq.m, along with the extension in some areas of Hoa Binh, Ha Nam, Bac Ninh and Hung Yen provinces which share the same rive basins with the city. It is estimated that Hanoi releases 450,000cu.m-510,000cu.m of wastewater per day into lakes and rivers, of which 90% are not treated, severely polluting the water sources and environment. (Tin Tuc – News Aug 16 p5)
