Hanoi (VNA) - A new technique that helps improve water drainagein urban areas has been proposed by a Japanese company. Thetechnique will help clean underground pipelines without digging them up, savingenergy and cost, and can be applied in emergencies.

Thetechnique has been tested at a number of wastewater treatment plants in Hanoiand the provinces of Quang Ninh and Ha Nam. Unlike conventional wastewatertreatment techniques, it does not require skilled manpower and has been provento be effective immediately.

KobayashiNoboru, director of the Sekisui Vietnam Pipe Solutions Company, said on February14 that the technique can be applied along with conventional wastewatertreatment system in Vietnam in order to improve the quality of the waterdrainage system.

Vietnamis going to be the first country in the world to apply the technique, hesaid at a conference on solutions for wastewater treatment andimproving environment in Vietnam.

Thecountry had 800 urban areas by the end of last year and the urban populationwill reach 44 million by 2020 and 52 million by 2025, accounting for 45 and 50 percentof the total population, according to official forecasts.

Thesechanges require more efficient water supply and water drainage systems.However, there is currently no synchronisation between the systems since theywere constructed over different periods of time without coordinated planning.

Someof the sewers have degraded, resulting in insufficient drainage capacity. Mostof the wastewater is not treated before discharged.  

Statisticsfrom the Ministry of Construction show that there are currently 37 wastewatertreatment plants in urban areas with a total capacity of 890,000cu.m per day,treating 12-13 percent of the total amount of wastewater. One water drainagesystem is being used for all types of wastewater and rainwater in urban areas.

Severalurban areas either have not built or are building domestic wastewater treatmentplants. Domestic wastewater is only pretreated in septic tanks beforedischarged into receiving waters. The percentage of households whose domesticsewers are connected to the water drainage system is extremely low in someareas.

Waterdrainage is being hindered by sewers that are not wide enough and by theconcreting of canals and trenches, leading to urban flooding in HCM City and Hanoiafter heavy rains, and in cities where floods rarely occurred before like Da Nang,Can Tho, Quy Nhon, Hai Phong, and Nha Trang.

Thedevelopment of industrial parks results in a major increase in the amount ofwastewater. Surface water pollution in rivers, lakes and canals near industrialparks and craft villages – such as the basins of the Nhue, Day and Dong Nairivers – is getting more and more severe, affecting urban water supply.

A2014 Government decree on water drainage and wastewater treatment encouragesre-use of rainwater in order to reduce floods, saving water resources andreducing exploitation and use of groundwater and surface water sources. Itprovides preferential loan policies for organisations and individuals offeringequipment and technologies for the treatment and re-use of rainwater.

TheMinistry of Construction has signed an agreement with Japan’s Ministry of Land,Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on strengthening the collaboration onwastewater system management between the two ministries.

TheJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Vietnam is implementingseveral projects on improving water environment in the urban areas of HCM City,Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Binh Duong and Hue.-VNA