Water flow and pressure gradually increasing in the city
Late Wednesday afternoon, the A Vuong and Dak Mi 4 hydropower reservoirs started releasing water around the clock into the downstream of the Vu Gia River whose tributary flows into the severe salinity-affected Cau Do (Red Bridge) River.
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| The Dak Mi 4 hydropower reservoir has released water at a daily capacity of 25 m3/s in order to push salinity out of the Cau Do River. |
This positive move aims to facilitate the Da Nang-based Cau Do and International Airport water supply plants to fetch water source from the Cau Do River for production in order to restore water supplies for the whole city.
Since Thursday noon onwards, Da Nang has seen an increase in water flow and pressure after several days of water shortages.
Dinh Huu Tan, the General Director of the Dak Mi Hydropower Joint Stock Company affirmed his agency’s willingness to provide water source, and underlined a need to hold a meeting between representatives from the Dak Mi 4 and A Vuong hydropower plants and Da Nang Water Supply Joint Stock Company (Dawaco) to reach an agreement on the most reasonable time to discharge water.
On Wednesday, the municipal administration issued written dispatch to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment with a focus on demanding for water discharges by the 2 hydropower plants in line with the national government-approved inter-reservoir operating procedures at the Vu Gia - Thu Bon river basin until the end of the ongoing dry season.
Soon after, the 2 hydropower plants asked for permission from the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) to conduct 24-hour emergency water discharges.
On the same day, the A Vuong hydropower plant started discharged water at a maximum capacity of over 70m3/s around the clock, about 6 million m3 of water per day, in order to push salinity out of the Cau Do River. In a similar vein, the Dak Mi 4 hydropower reservoir began releasing water at a capacity of 25 m3/s.
The water discharge by the 2 hydropower plants will be maintained until the salinity level at the Cau Do water plant’s raw water intake reduces to only 1,000gm/l.
At midnight yesterday, Dawaco fetched 30,000 – 40,000 m3 of water from the Cau Do River whose salinity level has drooped considerably, and also simultaneously, instructed its An Trach pumping station to operate at its maximum daily capacity of 210,000m3 of water so as to supply enough raw water sources to the Cau Do water plant for production.