The city plans to cut electricity and clean water supply to enterprises that discharge untreated wastewater deemed unsafe for daily use of residents, officials have said. The HCM City Natural Resources and Environment Department said it had implemented several urgent measures to prevent increasing pollution of the Sai Gon River, particularly at the Hoa Phu Pumping Station area in Cu Chi District.
Nguyen Van Phuoc, deputy director of the department, said the department had completed a system to regularly monitor water quality in the river.
"The department has forced each and every industrial park along the river to build and operate a consolidated wastewater treatment system," Phuoc said.
They had also reviewed the wastewater discharge standards applied to enterprises located further upstream, he added.
The department has regulated that enterprises that release wastewater directly into the river or into canals that flow into the river at the Hoa Phu Pumping Station area must meet A-level standards.
Under the regulation, wastewater meeting A-level discharge standard can be released into water resources that are used for daily need.
The HCM City People’s Committee has also proposed that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment amends the decree on administrative punishments for environmental protection violations, including increasing fines and applying stronger sanctions like cutting off electricity and water supply to enterprises that intentionally pollute the environment.
Water quality
Water quality of the Sai Gon River, particularly at the Hoa Phu Pumping Station in Cu Chi District, has worsened considerably of late, according to the city’s Environment Protection division.
The Hoa Phu Pumping Station pumps water from the Sai Gon River for the Tan Hiep Water Plant that supplies tap water for millions of people in several districts, including 6, 7, 8, Tan Binh, Go Vap, Nha Be and Binh Chanh.
The wastewater released from households and industrial production activities along the Sai Gon River in vicinity of the pumping station contains high amounts of polluted substances, including Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Manganese, Ammonia and Coliform.
Untreated wastewater from the Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park, Phuoc Hiep Rubbish Dump, residential areas and livestock breeding units in Cu Chi and Hoc Mon districts has also been released into the river through Tra and Ba Hong canals.
The canals are only 1-14 km away from the Hoa Phu Pumping Station.
The wastewater content in the river at the station area is now one to five times higher than the permitted level, according to the division.