The assistance is part of an investment project, involving the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Vietnamese Government, along with other development partners, totalling about USD2.8 billion.

The programme will help water companies improve and expand clean a water supply in some of Vietnam's largest cities through the installation of new pipelines, as well as repairing and extending existing infrastructure.It will also enhance the operational management and commercial viability of water companies.

Among the beneficiaries, it’s estimated that half a million poor households will receive new connections to water service.

Another goal of the water investment programme is to reduce water loss in urban areas to less than 20% by 2020. This would bring the standards for water loss up to those of modern cities such as Soeul.

At present, four out of ten families living in Vietnam's largest cities are not connected to a central water system, and only one in three towns have any form of piped water supply. Many piped water systems in urban areas are in urgent need of upgrades. In some areas, as 30% to 40% of water lost before it reaches the consumer, due to leaking pipes.

ADB is providing USD138 million for the programme's first project in Ho Chi Minh City, where many poor households are not yet connected to the municipal water system, yet are paying almost twice the official water tariff.

The Ho Chi Minh City project, which will be implemented by the Saigon Water Corporation, will improve pressure and coverage to over half a million city residents, and provide almost 20,000 families with new water connections. The project is expected to increase water availability in Ho Chi Minh City to over 64 million cubic metres per year over the next decade.

(VFEJ, 24/2/2011)