Tua Chua strives to overcome the lack of domestic water

In 2023, after investing in a centralized domestic water project, the water shortage that had lasted for many years in Huoi Trang village was overcome.

Huoi Trang village, Tua Thang commune has nearly 500 people. Although located along the Da River, the shortage of domestic water has lasted for many years. There are years of prolonged hot weather, people have to rent cars and motorbikes to transport water from other places for daily use. From 2023, Huoi Trang village has invested in a new domestic water project (the old project invested in 2009 was damaged), contributing to solving the shortage of domestic water for people.

Mrs. Quang Thi Coi, Huoi Trang village said: After many years of struggling due to lack of water for daily life, the villagers are very happy when the State invested in a new water project. Water has reached the households' homes. Currently, it is the hot season but the water source is still guaranteed for use, no need to worry about shortage.

Trung Thu and Nhe Sua Hang hamlets (Trung Thu commune) have more than 80 households, and in the past, they often lacked water for daily activities even during the rainy season. However, since 2023, both hamlets have invested in centralized water supply projects, which has contributed to solving the problem of domestic water for the people.

Staff from Tua Chua District Health Center instruct people on how to store and treat water at home. Photo courtesy of Contributor

Mr. Vu A Phia, Chairman of the People's Committee of Trung Thu Commune, said: In the commune with 8 villages, the two villages of Trung Thu and Nhe Sua Hang have the most serious shortage of domestic water because they do not have a water source. People have to travel 1.5 - 2km to other villages to carry cans of water for daily use. Since the domestic water project was invested and handed over for use, people have been very happy. To ensure the stable operation of the project, the commune has assigned the two villages to establish a management and protection team.

Not only focusing on investing in domestic water projects, recently Tua Chua district has also paid attention to supporting water tanks and cistern for people, especially in places where water resources are scarce, or where domestic water projects have not been invested in. Typically, at the end of 2023, from the capital source of the National Target Program on Socio -Economic Development for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the period 2021 - 2030, Tua Chua district has distributed 1,694 plastic water tanks (capacity of 1,000 liters/tank) to poor households with difficulties in domestic water in the whole district.

Tua Chua town is also one of the places that often suffers from serious shortage of domestic water.

However, currently in Tua Chua district, there are still many households and villages that are seriously lacking water for daily activities, especially in the hot season. According to statistics from the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the shortage of domestic water occurs in most communes and towns, especially in the town area of Tua Chua district and the northern communes of the district (Trung Thu, Lao Xa Phinh, Sin Chai, Ta Sin Thang, Ta Phin) all lack domestic water for 1-3 months a year.

Ta Phin is one of the communes in Tua Chua district that is seriously lacking water. The whole commune has 6 out of 9 villages and hamlets lacking water for daily use. People have to walk to the source, a few kilometers away from their homes, to get water for use. However, in the rainy season the water is murky, in the dry season the stream dries up. For large families, sometimes carrying water for half a day is still not enough for daily use.

There are many reasons for the water shortage in the dry season in Tua Chua district. Firstly, it is due to the high and fragmented mountainous terrain, the steep slopes of the rivers and streams, and the inability to store water. Moreover, Tua Chua is a karst terrain - this is one of the reasons for the serious water shortage.

The management and operation of water tanks after investment still has many limitations, leading to some water tanks being degraded and not being effective.

Currently, the whole district has 113 domestic water projects (111 hygienic domestic water projects, 2 clean water projects). However, most of them are self-flowing domestic water projects; the water source is unstable, usually only providing a certain period of time during the dry season. The management and operation of domestic water projects after investment has not been of interest to the people, so many projects have not been effective.

According to Mr. Pham Quoc Dat, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tua Chua district, the lack of domestic water has been happening for many years, but so far there has been no effective solution. Currently, the total number of rural households in the district using clean water is 10,358/12,243 households (accounting for 84.6%). The rate of rural households using clean water from centralized water supply works is 63.6%. The rate of rural households using clean water from small-scale water supply works is 21%. The rate of rural households using clean water that meets new standards is 2.3%.

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