What is “clean water” like?


Nguyen Van Luc of the district of Long Bien said that a white-yellow layer precipitates to the bottom of his kettle after every time he boils water.“After I boil water four or five times with the same kettle, the residues can be peeled by hand,” Luc said.

Pham Huy Khoa, a neighborer of Luc in the district’s Ngoc Thuy Ward, said he had to have his water pipeline repaired a few days ago. “This is the second time in the last two years I have had to have the pipelines cleared to eliminate the dregs,” he said.

“The cold water pipe has never been stuck, while the hot one gets stuck regularly,” he added.

The people in Ngoc Thuy Ward have been using tap water since 2012, when the Hanoi Water Supply Company set a water pipeline there. Every household in the ward had to pay VND700,000-900,000 for the pipes, though by law, they should not have to bear the costs of pipes and installation.

Le Thi Chung of the Cau Giay District also complained that she had to spend VND300,000 last month to unchoke the water pipe.“I had not realized that the tap in a guest bedroom dripped for some months until a recent day, when I arranged the room for a friend of mine from HCM City. It was because of the clogging residues,” she said.

In early April, the pipeline that brings water from the Da River to Hanoi reportedly broke for the fifth time since it was put into operation in 2012. As a result, Hanoians in some areas had to use muddy water for several days until the problems were fixed.

“The water was so muddy and black that I could not see the bottom of the basin, while it gave off a fishy smell. But we still had to use it because we had no other choice,” said Le Van Chinh in Thanh Xuan District.

“We still had to pay for the dirty water. No one and no company said they would compensate for the dirty water and interruption of water supply. And no one apologized for the inconvenience,” he complained.

Can water filters protect Hanoians?

Many Hanoians said they do not believe the “clean” water provided by the Hanoi Water Supply Company is clean enough.

Le Thi Lanh in Dong Da District said she has to filter the clean water supplied by the company with her RO-technology (reverse osmosis) filter before using the water.

According to Lanh, she bought the filter two years ago for VND4 million. She has to pay another VND500,000 every year to have the filter maintained and parts replaced.

The water supply companies in Hanoi all report high proportions of water loss during transmission.

According to the Ministry of Construction, 30 percent of the water supply was lost on its way in 2012. The current average proportion is 28 percent, which means that VND2 trillion is lost every year.