The Third WEPA International Forum on Water Environmental Governance 23- 24 October 2008, Malaysia
The Current State of River Basins in Vietnam
Pollution and Solution
Hoang Duc Hanh 1, Nguyen The Dong
1Institute
of Environmental Technology,
Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
2General Department of Environment
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
2
Content
• An introduction of river basins in Vietnam
• The current state of Vietnam river basins
pollutions
• Water quality management
• Some priority solutions to protect the water
environment in river basins
An introduction of river basin in Vietnam
Vietnam is a complex and dense river network.
There are 9 river basins which contribute to
90% of total river basin area in the whole
country.
The 9 main river basins are those of Red, Thai
Binh, Bang Giang-Ky Cung, Ma, Ca La, Thu Bon,
Ba, Dong Nai, and Cuu Long river.
The Red river and the Mekong river systems
have the largest basin areas (155,000 and
795,000 km2 respectively) as well as the highest
total volume of water flow.
Each river system has its own distinctive
characteristics, thus environmental management
approaches may vary greatly from one river
basin to another, depending on socio-economic
conditions, land use, environmental factors, and
their economical and ecological values, .etc.
An introduction to Cau, Nhue-Day and Dong nai river
-Cau river has 6.230 km2, and 288 km long,
passes through Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen, Vinh
Phuc, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong provinces
and Hanoi before it merges with Thai Binh river.
Source: www.vncold.vn
The Day/Nhue sub-Basin covers some
7,958 km2, 2.4% of the area of Vietnam. It
covers Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh,
Hanoi city and Hoa Binh
Source: Red River Basin Sector Project: Water Resources
Management :ADB/MARD/MONRE Project 3892 - VIE
Source: www.vncold.vn
The current state of Vietnam river basins
pollutions
Nhue river
Vedan company
Dong nai river
Day river
The water monitoring data in Cau river 2005
30
25.32
25
20
16
14.26
15
10
12.16
7.25
6
5
0
SW-27
BOD5
TCVN 5942-1995 (A) BOD
SW-28
SW-29
COD
TCVN 5942-1995 (A) COD
Cause of pollution
The main wastewater in thai nguyen
13.9%
Mining
0.7%
Minerals
2.5%
0.3%
22.1%
Mechanics
1.5%
Material construction
production
59.0%
Food processing
Hospital
Domestic
Waste water from trade village
Hai duong 21%
Bac can, thai nguyen 27 %
Vinh phuc
9%
Bac ninh 30 %
Bac giang 13 %
Domestic wastewater
Bac giang 23,02 %
Thai nguyen
16.12 %
Bac can
4.34 %
Vinh phuc 17 %
Bac ninh 14.53 %
Hai duong 24.99 %
Hospital
wastewater
Other
herbicide
Argriculture
activities
Pesticide
Medicine
Proportion of wastewater volumes discharged to
Nhue-Day River
Proportion of industries discharging wastewater to rivers in the Day/Nhue
• Source: Institute of Geography, 2005, SOE Report 2006
Craft villages in provinces/cities
Source: Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of provinces/cities, 2006, SOE Report 2006
COD trends of the Day River
Source: Ha Nam and Nam Dinh provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, 2006,
Estimating the discharge of domestic wastewater in Hanoi city
Item
2005
2010
2020
2,230,300
2,666,240
3,011,163
140
180
200
365.702
431.930
542.000
1,281,875
1,620,000
2,218,750
467,884
591,300
809,844
1,085,000
1.360.000
1.850.000
tonne/year
396,025
496,400
675,250
kilo/day
888,125
1,100,000
1,481,250
tonne/year
324,166
401,500
540,656
Hanoi population in Nhue River catchment
Water supply standard for urban people
(average litre/person/day)
Domestic water volume (calculated at 90%
reliability of water supply for domestic) (m3/day)
kilo/day
BOD
COD
SS
tonne/year
kilo/day
Sources: The water supply decisive planning of Hanoi & Hanoi drainage project period (2003 – 2010)
BOD5 in 2005 and estimation for 2010
Scenario 1, by the year 2010 the water quality of Nhue – Day River would be
significantly worse. The BOD concentration will have increased by 1.2 – 1.5 times;
Scenario 2 show some significant improvements over Scenario 1 at some locations,
However BOD5 would not meet TCVN (B).
Scenario 3 there are further improvements, particularly for BOD5. However, this would
still not meet TCVN (A). This indicates the amount of residual pollution in the system
and means that extensive and costly treatment would be required.
Water quality management
Environmental Protection Policies related to Water
Resources
• Law on Environmental Protection 2005.
• National Strategy for Environmental Protection until 2010
with vision toward 2020 – signed by Prime Minister on
02/12/2003.
• Decree 67/2003/ND-CP on wastewater charge
• Law of Water Resources
• National Strategy on Water Resources to 2020
• Directive 200/TTg on guaranteeing clean water and rural
environmental sanitation
• Enforcement policies
Law on Environmental Protection 2005
Chapter VII:Protection of marine environment, river water and other water
resources:
Protection of River Water
- Principles of River Water Protection;
- Water Environmental Pollution Control and
Treatment in River Basins;
- Responsibilities of Provincial People’s Committees
for Water Environmental Protection in River
Basins;
- Organization of Water Environment
Protection in River Basins
National Strategy on Environmental Protection to
2010 with vision toward 2020
Specific Objectives
To 2020:
-100% urban centers, industrial parks and export-processing zones to be provided
with centered waste treatment systems that measure up to environmental
standards
- 100% of the urban population and 95% of the rural population have access to
clean drinking water supplies
To 2010
- 40% of urban centers, 70% of industrial parks and export-processing zones to be
provided with centered waste treatment systems that measure up to
environmental standards
National Strategy on Environmental Protection
to 2010 with vision toward 2020
NSEP Programs related to water resources management
Programe
Priority
ranking
Completion time
Rehabilitation of seriously polluted & degraded
urban canals, ponds, lakes & river sections
High
2010 for 1st phase
Cau River Basin Environmental Protection
Highest
2010 for 1st phase
Nhue-Day River Basin Environmental Protection
Highest
2010 for 1st phase
Saigon-DongNai River Basin Environmental
Protection
Highest
2010 for 1st phase
Policy Enforcement
Decree 81/2006/ND-CP on fines on administrative violations:
• Maximum fine imposed on breaches of environmental regulations could reach to
70,000,000 VND (~4500 USD).
• With regards to wastewater and pollutants discharge into water resources fines are
fixed from 100,000 to 70,000,000 VND (~7 – 4,500USD) depending on the pollution
level or whether containing hazardous and radioactive substances.
Vietnamese Standards System TCVN:
There have been set up a system of 31 discharging standards including wastewater,
air, and noise, which are compulsory to every enterprise and production unit to
comply.
- TCVN 5942:1995: for surface water quality
- TCVN 5943:1995: for coastal water quality
- TCVN 5944:1995: for underground water quality
- TCVN 5945:2005: for wastewater quality
Some priority solutions to protect the
water environment in river basins
Common solutions
• Development and improvement of legal
regulations, policies and institutions
• Inspection, monitoring of law enforcement
• Application of economic tools, scientific and
technological solutions
• Capacity strengthening
• Public participation and responsibility
• International cooperation
Some priority solutions to protect the
water environment in river basins
Specific measures to protect the water environment of the
three basins of Cau, nhue-day and dong nai river
Cau river basins
Nhue-day river basins
Dong nai river basins
To Implement the necesssary
measure to treat waster water from
industrial and mining activities, Craft
village, domestic
To concentrate on treatment
domestic, inductrial, craft village
waste water
To concentrate on treatment
domestic, inductrial, waste water
To control serious polluted areas
To control serious polluted areas
To control serious polluted areas
To limit the number of investment
permit for 2 type: minarals
exploitation and paper pulp
production
To limit the number of investment
permit for 5 type: cassava starch
processing, basic chemical
production, dying, leather tanning,
paper pulp production
To limit the number of investment
permit for 5 type: rubber latex,
cassava starch processing, basic
chemical production, dying,
leather tanning
To stop deforestation
To zone some vegetable safety
areas
To accelerate the approval
process of the submitted project
on the environmental protection
of Dong Nai river basin
Thank you very much for your kind attention