The most read Vietnamese newspaper
Edition: International | Vietnamese
© Copyright 1997 VnExpress.net. All rights reserved.
Construction of Vietnam's largest wastewater treatment plant started in Hanoi on Friday. The plant is designed to reduce the large amount of toxic waste being released into the city’s major rivers every day.
The facility in Thanh Tri District on the southern outskirts of Hanoi will be able to treat 270,000 cubic meters of sewage every day.
The project, estimated to cost VND16.2 trillion ($726.4 million), will treat sewage from Thanh Tri as well as the downtown districts of Ba Dinh, Cau Giay, Dong Da, Ha Dong, Hoang Mai and Thanh Xuan.
Japanese official development aid will pay for 85 percent of the project, while the rest will come from the city's budget.
A pipe system of more than 52 kilometers will be built along the Lu, To Lich and Nhue rivers to collect the waste.
It is hoped the project will bring these rivers back to life.
Hanoi officials said the project, slated for completion after three years, will be the first major sewage treatment center in the city.
“It is a very important project that will hopefully bring the city’s rivers back to life,” Hanoi Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung said at a meeting.
All the city’s household sewage currently ends up in the storm drain system and has heavily polluted local lakes and rivers, while only a few companies and apartment buildings comply to waste treatment rules, an investigation found.
Water pollution has become notorious in Hanoi in recent years. The problem entered the spotlight recently after over 100 tons of fish washed up dead in the city's largest lake, Tay Ho.
A study by the Institute for Environmental Science and Development found that all of Hanoi’s urban lakes and waterways are heavily polluted.
Related news:
>Hanoi lakes to be checked following massive fish die-off in West Lake
>Rotting fish cast stench over Hanoi lake
>Formosa illegally changed waste-treatment technology: Vietnam minister
