On Wednesday, General Director of the Da Nang Water Supply Company (DAWACO) Ho Huong affirmed that, although tap water is currently brackish, it has remained in safe limits. 

His statement came after many local families had continuously complained on social networks about tap water quality over the recent days.

The city’s Cau Do (Red Bridge) River has suffered from severe salt-water contamination during 12 days.

In attempting to deal with this matter, the An Trach Pumping Station is now operating at full capacity to provide tap water for the Red Bridge and International Airport water supply plants. This has helped to ensure sufficient water for residents’ daily lives, agriculture and industrial production in the city.

Given effective measures taken by DAWACO, the highest salinity level of local tap water is now under 200mg/l, which is much lower than the warning level stipulated in the national technical regulations issued by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health regarding drinking water quality.

In detail, according to these national requirements, in the mainland, the safe salinity level in drinking water is under 250 mg/l, whilst in coastal and island areas, the maximum allowable concentration of all dissolved salts in drinking water is 300 mg/l.

DAWACO is now asking hydropower plants upstream of the Vu Gia River in Quang Nam Province to discharge water in accordance with the operating procedures of water reservoirs in order to push the salinity out of the water were also presented.