Meeting on solutions for fresh water supply in the dry season of 2020-2021
24 August 20 Ben Tre Government Online Portal On the morning of August 20, 2020, Vice Chairmen of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Huu Lap and Nguyen Truc Son co-chaired a meeting to hear water supply businesses report on solutions for fresh water supply in the dry season of 2020-2021 and the following years. Also attending the meeting were leaders of provincial departments and agencies; leaders of People's Committee of districts and cities; water supply companies in the province.
At the meeting, water supply units in the province presented the provincial leaders and the audience with scenarios to cope with saline intrusion during the dry season of 2020-2021 and the following years. During that period, in case saline intrudes all over the province and the draw water sources for Ben Tre Water Supply and Draining Joint Stock Company are all salinized, the Cai Co pump station will pump water to An Hiep and Son Dong water plants for clean water treatment, according to the Company. The Provincial People's Committee has approved approach to the project of Cai Be draw water pump station undertaken by DNP Water Investment Joint Stock Company. If the project is completed as planned, Ben Tre Water Supply and Draining Joint Stock Company will receive the draw water supply from the project on behalf of Huu Dinh, Son Dong, An Hiep and Cho Lach water plantsMr Huynh Kim Muoi, Director of the Center for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation said that, up to now, the Center has managed 33 water plants, with a total capacity of 2,389 cubic meters per hour, providing clean water to about 80,455 households. The management and operation of the water plants are arranged into 9 water supply areas distributed in 7 districts, including Ba Tri, Giong Trom, Thanh Phu, Mo Cay Nam, Mo Cay Bac, Chau Thanh and Binh Dai.
To cope with saline intrusion in the dry season of 2020-2021, the Center has proposed technical solutions such as using barges and boats to transport draw water from upper parts of the Mekong River to the province to supply to water plants; setting up draw water pump stations to provide draw water to water plants; installing HDPE bags of fresh water to distribute to water plants with high salinization; buying water from other water supply units through water totalizer; dredging natural canals that lead water to water plants and increasing the volume of water in reservoirs, etc.
Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Truc Son requested water plants in the province to soon build response scenarios under normal and saline conditions, have specific plans for each factory, region to ensure water supply meets the prescribed standards for customers. On the basis of proposals by the water plants, the Provincial People's Committee will consider to apply the actually appropriate water prices to ensure the interests of both investors and consumers.
Emphasizing the goal of not letting water plants be salinized and not supplying salt water to customers from now on, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Huu Lap assigned water trading companies and enterprises to be responsible for supplying fresh water in any situation.
The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Hydrometeorological Station to coordinate in ensuring the forecasting of natural disasters, drought and saline intrusion; to keep on informing the hydrometeorological situation so that people and businesses could be proactive in production, business and daily life.
The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also assigned the Department of Construction, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to closely monitor scenarios and plans of water supply units managed by the departments. He assigned the Department of Finance to advise the Provincial People's Committee to finalize the water price in line with actual conditions.
Written by Huyen Trang
Translated by Truong Hung
