HueWACO supplies water to people in mountainous and remote areas using water tanks.

Lack of clean water

Currently, the domestic water supply system in A Luoi 4 commune is mainly provided by two water supply stations managed by Hue Water Supply Joint Stock Company (HueWACO), namely Dong Son water supply station and A Roang water supply station, along with gravity-fed water systems managed and operated by the local community.

In the former Lam Dot commune, only 50 households in 11 villages are connected to and use clean water from the Dong Son water supply station; the remaining households use water from 8 gravity-fed water systems directly managed by the village communities. In Ba Lach village alone, 120 households draw water from streams for their own use due to the lack of a centralized water supply system.

Similarly, in the former A Roàng commune, which comprises 7 villages, the water supply from the A Roàng Water Supply Station only distributes to 3 villages: A Roàng 1, A Min - C9, and Ka 2 Lô, with a total of 193 households having access to clean water. The remaining households use water from 3 gravity-fed water systems managed by the village communities. Notably, in the former Hương Phong commune, despite achieving the new rural standard in the 2015-2020 period, all households still use water from only 2 gravity-fed water systems.

According to Mr. Ho Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of A Luoi 4 commune, a review of the commune revealed that a total of 616 out of 2,742 households have access to clean water for daily use, representing 22.5%; the remaining households rely on gravity-fed water from 13 community-managed water supply systems. These systems are currently operational, providing water for the remaining 77.5% of households, but they frequently malfunction during the rainy season and do not meet the water needs during the dry season.

Gravity-fed water systems primarily extract water from natural streams, channeling it into reservoirs before distributing it to households. Water filtration is limited to removing coarse sand and gravel, lacking disinfection with chlorine or other hygiene measures, which could negatively impact people's health.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hai, Chairman of the People's Committee of A Luoi 1 commune, surveys show that only about 23% of the local population has access to and uses clean water, mainly in the villages of the former Hong Kim commune. The remaining villages either do not have access to clean water or are using naturally flowing water from community-managed facilities. During the rainy season, the water is often murky, unsanitary, and poses a health risk.

Invest early

According to Mr. Ho Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of A Luoi 4 commune, after the Department of Agriculture and Environment assessed that the quality and hygiene of the natural water source in the area were not up to standard, the commune's People's Committee requested the City People's Committee and the Department to pay attention and direct the early implementation of the project to upgrade and expand the clean water supply network in the commune.

Regarding this matter, the Provincial People's Council (now the City People's Council) issued Resolution No. 101/NQ-HĐND dated December 7, 2023, on adjusting the investment policy for the rural water supply project in Thua Thien Hue province for the period 2021-2025, which includes the upgrading and expansion of the clean water supply network in the former A Luoi communes and Lam Dot and Huong Phong communes (now part of A Luoi 4 commune). However, to date, the investor, HueWACO, has not yet implemented this project.

To ensure a continuous, stable, and safe supply of clean water to the people in accordance with the approved plan, the Department of Construction proposes that the City People's Committee direct HueWACO to conduct surveys and develop investment plans for the construction of clean water supply plants according to the plan, and to plan the implementation of projects to expand and connect the clean water supply pipeline network to scattered, small-scale residential areas, remote areas, ethnic minority areas, and economically disadvantaged areas within the city, in order to report to the City People's Committee and relevant departments for consideration and decision on investment according to regulations.

To address the immediate issue of insufficient clean water for daily use in the communes of A Lưới district, HueWACO has piloted the use of 5m3 water tanks to provide free clean water to the people.

Text and photos: HA NGUYEN

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/kinh-te/som-dau-tu-he-thong-nuoc-sach-cho-cac-xa-a-luoi-165976.html