Hanoi (VNA) - Tighter regulations are neededto ensure good quality water is sourced for years to come, according to NguyenThi Hong Khanh, from the Ministry of Construction’s TechnologicalInfrastructure Department.

She believes a solid legal framework is necessary to makesure there is plenty of water for future generations.

“We need a scheme for the Water Supply Law, and submit it tothe Government and the National Assembly,” Khanh said.

There are more than 200 water supply enterprises in Vietnam,mainly operating as joint stock companies.

The national programme to ensure water supply and preventwater loss in the 2018-25 period has been implemented to promote investment andimprove modern and energy-saving water treatment technology. It alsoestablishes criteria for evaluating a safe water supply work.

At a recent conference hosted by the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development’s Directorate of Water Resources and EastMeets West Foundation in Hanoi, a representative from the Directorate ofWater Resources said since 2013, many provinces have actively enacted policiesto call on the private economic sector in rural clean water supplyworks.    

While piped water supply systems have increased in ruralareas, more than 30 percent of community managed and public water works are outof service.

According to the Directorate of Water Resources’ latestreport, most of the rural water supply works in northern Thai Binh provincehave been transferred to an enterprise for management.  

In northern Bac Giang province, 12 local enterprises havebuilt and are managing water plants that supply clean water to about 124,000people.

In northern Ha Nam province, from two in 2013, now there are11 enterprises built and managing rural water supply works serving 150,000people. 

In the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, there are 15enterprises investing in water supply systems with 13 among the province’s total29 plants managed by local companies.

However, the representative said the rural population issparse while the acreage is large, so constructing water supply works requireshigh cost but economic efficiency is low. He added that investors must considerbefore joining.

The conference reviewed the Innovations for Private SectorDevelopment Project (PSI), funded by the Australian Department of ForeignAffair and Trade (DFAT), which has been carried out in Vietnam, Laos andCambodia.

In Vietnam, the 2 million AUD project, which started in 2016,has succeeded in providing new piped water works for more than 6,600 ruralhouseholds. The project has coordinated with eight private investors.

In the first phase, lasting 20 months, four privatecompanies, two in northern mountainous Son La province and two in northern HaNam province, built plants to supply 3,610 households.  

The second phase, from May 2017 to September 2019, providedclean water to 2,990 households in two provinces of An Giang and Nghe An./.