Water factory suspended over drought, affecting 700 families

At noon on Wednesday, Nguyen Thi Trinh had to ride her motorbike while carrying two large buckets so she could secure free water from water tankers provided by authorities. With the 100 liters of water provided, Trinh can now cook and wash her food ingredients.

Every day, Trinh’s household tries to use water sparingly. But over the past week, the water flow coming out of her family’s faucet has been slow. In order to secure enough water for the entire family, Trinh has to use buckets to catch every drop of water, even in the middle of the night.

Having lived in the area for decades, Trinh said she has never seen such a situation.

"Our family does not have a well, so during days with no water, we have to purchase water from mobile vendors at around VND40,000 (US$1.50) per unit," she said. That was around 10 times the normal prices.

The Da Huoai water factory in the eponymous district said water sources for over 700 families in Da M’Ri town came from the Da M’Re stream, at a capacity of 500 m3 a day. However, due to severe and long-lasting droughts, the stream has now dried up. The factory announced on Tuesday that it would stop operations, resulting in a water shortage for all people in the area.

Da Huoai People’s Committee has deployed two water tankers from a water factory in Madaguoi Town, located about 15 km away, to provide water for people’s daily necessities. Each family will be provided 100-120 liters of water a day until the Da Huoai factory returns to operation.

The factory and authorities have also performed surveys and deployed a 600 m tube to a stream at Bao Loc Pass to bring water to the factory. Lam Dong water company has also been directing water from Le Thi Pha Street into the system, so that the factory can operate once more.

Droughts in the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta this year have rendered several lakes and streams dry, damaging hectares worth of crops and causing water shortages for thousands of families.