The facility, which will service District 2’s Thanh My Loi Ward on Thu Thiem Peninsula, will have a daily treatment capacity of 850,000 cubic meters, according to an official from HCMC’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
The Sai Gon River meanders around Thu Thiem Peninsula (in the background) in HCMC's District 2. HCMC prepares to build the country's wastewater treatment facility in Thanh My Loi Ward in District 2.
Cao Tung Son, vice head of the department’s Environment Management Office, told the Daily that the 36-hectare plant would be the country’s largest wastewater facility and that the facility would treat wastewater from the basin of Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal including districts 1, 3, 5, 10, Tan Binh and Binh Thanh.
In addition, the plan will treat household wastewater from the eastern districts of 2, 9 and Thu Duc.
SCE Consultancy and HCMC’s Center of the Urban Flood Control will carry out feasibility studies on the project from January 2010 to July 2011, according to a document obtained by the Daily. Results will be submitted to relevant agencies for approval when the study is completed.
The document said that HCMC’s Center of the Urban Flood Control would be the project’s main investor. However, it did not include the project’s required investment capital.
SCE Consultancy identified three important conditions that the plant must meet. Firstly, it must treat all wastewater for the three eastern districts plus those surrounding Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal. Secondly, the treated water must reach type A according to Vietnam Standards. Thirdly, the project developer must ensure that the facility will not cause any pollution in the Dong Nai River, as it is the region’s main tap water source.
The consultancy said that District 2’s population would increase significantly in the future, and wastewater levels would increase as a result. SCE forecast that when District 2’s population reaches 630,000 in 2030 the area would discharge 270,000 cubic meters of wastewater daily. As such, the large-scale treatment facility would be necessary to supply the city with water in the future.
Binh Hung Wastewater Facility, located in Binh Chanh District, opened in December 2008. It treats 141,000 cubic meters each day, achieving type B results. US$100 million was spent on the facility.
Currently, the city discharges 1.2 million cubic meters of wastewater into the environment each day. Untreated wastewater from the HCMC’s central districts is dumped into the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal, which then flows into the Saigon River, eventually reaching Dong Nai River’s lower sections.