Many people in the area queued for hours to wait for water from neighbouring blocks late on Sunday night after their block experienced water cuts since the afternoon.
Thanh Ha Urban Area has 23 apartment blocks with some 16,000 residents. Since early October, many residents have complained about the heavy ammonia smell in tap water. Some people started having skin problems while their pet fish started to die. Test results from local authorities showed that the water had an ammonia content 38 times higher than what is considered safe, and the chlorine levels were over ten times higher than safe levels.
According to the water provider, Thanh Ha Water Company, due to a shortage of source water, they had to use water from drilled wells. Due to the large amount of water they had to supply, they have been unable to treat the water properly.
Following a meeting held on October 14 with local authorities and the investor of the urban area, the company temporarily cut the supply of water treated from drilled wells while improving their treatment process, which has led to many households having no water for daily use.
A local resident, Tran Van Ha, said that they had to buy purified water for drinking and cooking after finding that the tap water was contaminated over the past two weeks.
"Now we don't have any water to wash with," he said. "We're having to take bottles and containers out to ask for water from neighbouring areas for use. I hope that the problem will be fixed as soon as possible," he said.
The Hanoi Department of Construction has asked the Hanoi Water Company to urgently help Thanh Ha Water Company to provide some 2,000 m3 of water a day and night for the Thanh Ha Urban Area.
In the meantime, Thanh Ha Water Company has been asked to fix their water treatment facilities within three months to ensure quality water supply for local residents.