Ironing out a water supply

Water continues to supply worries for Giao Xuan commune in the northern Nam Dinh Province.

Even though about 800 households, or 31percent, of the commune in Giao Thuy District, have access to well-water, it’s unsanitary. Therefore, the majority drink only rain-water and use the well-water for washing, said the commune’s Party Committee Secretary, Nguyen Van Khuyen.

Well projects began in 1997 in Giao Xuan, and peaked i 1999-2000. The wells cost VND1.7 million to drill, a price too expensive for the commune’s annual per capita income of VND 1.2-1.5 million.

The well-water is iron rich, so well - owners build a simple filter system containing coal residues, sand and pebble to eliminate the iron’s pungent odour. Self-made filters cost between VND 300-500,000 to install. However, they do not test water potability.

To purchase a standardised filter system would cost a villager VND 3-4 million. Some medium income households in the commune can install a filter and pumping system to make the water sanitary. However most villagers do not drink the well water.

Instead, they collect rain during the rainy season in 3-4 cum reservoirs. But this amount can only supply a household with several months of potable water.

Those villagers who do not have a well to meet their washing needs use water from irrigation channels. However, this source is polluted with pesticides used in rice farming, said Khuyen.

“The people in the commune have an old habit of using rain water. So encouraging them to use water from other sources is difficult. Educational activities and propaganda must stress the importance of using fresh water”, a commune official, Tran Van Minh, said.

The commune’s water supply is also threatened by the growing problem of garbage disposal. In the past, rubbish was disposed of in the channel. This polluted the water and affected aquaculture farms along the beach, and caused disease among residents in the summer.

“We don’t have enough money to recruit a group of workers specialising in gabage collection. The annually budget for the commune cannot support such activities”, said the chairman of the administration, Tran Van Soan.

The local administration recognises that water sanitation must be a high – priority, but needs more money. “We have built kindergartens in each village with drill-wells and filter systems so that children have access to freshwater”, Khuyen said.

Nam Dinh plans to pilot water-supply plants in the communes of Giao Lam, Giao Tien and Dai Dong by 2005. “In the future, we hope that a clean water plant will be built in our commune, to improve our quality of life”, said Pham Minh Duc, a resident at Giao xuan said.

But for now, drilling more wells is considered to be the most viable. immediate option. “If each house hold in the commune received VND 500,000 of assistance from the province, I think we could relieve the current pressure for clean water”, Khuyen said.

Source: Vietnam news

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