The department proposed the river’s upstream section for treatment. Accordingly, wastewater will be collected from some sewers discharging into the To Lich River and treated by small-scale treatment systems before being released into the river.

The current To Lich River.

The polluted river water will also be infused with clean water to dilute the pollution. Additionally, trees will be grown along the river.

The department also asked the Hanoi authorities to come up with policies to encourage local residents to use bio-technology to treat wastewater before discharging it into the To Lich River. Newly-built construction works must have wastewater treatment networks.

Hanoi’s Deputy Chairman Vu Hong Khanh said that the most urgent environmental problems in To Lich are surface water pollution, pollution caused by dust and solid waste. Khanh said the city will build small-scale systems to collect and treat wastewater in the upstream section, and dredge the river and use bio-products to clean the river in 2010.

According to the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the To Lich River has been narrowed and its water has been seriously polluted. The river has to receive over 150,000 cu.m of wastewater per day.