Around 6,000 cubic metres of water is supplied per day by two pumping stations in the city through a 42-km long pipeline to Can Thanh town and Long Hoa and Binh Khanh Communes.
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| Boys in Can Gio District’s Can Thanh town bathe in clean water supplied through a 42-km pipeline since yesterday Photo: Tuoi Tre |
The system, which cost more than VND821 billion (USD40 million), will reach its peak capacity of 44,000 cubic metres per day next October when one more pumping station is built, Tran Dinh Phu, general director of the Saigon Water Corporation (Sawaco), said.
It can then supply clean water to the entire district which has a population of 150,000, he said.
By 2020 it will be upgraded to double its capacity to 88,000 cubic metres per day, he added.
For the past several years, the city has spent VND50 billion (USD2.4 million) a year on subsidies for Can Gio residents to buy water, Huynh Cach Mang, chairman of the district people’s committee, said.
However, Can Gio residents have had to pay VND5,000 for a cubic metre of water – VND600 higher than in inner Ho Chi Minh– and in remote areas of the district, the price could amount to VND60,000-80,000 (USD2.87-USD3.82).
The district has a desalination plant to process seawater operated by Dang Doan Nguyen JSC but it only supplies 5,000 cubic metres a day, Mang said.
Speaking at the inauguration of the pipeline, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai praised it as a significant milestone in the district’s economic and social development.
Nguyen Thanh Tai, deputy chairman of the city people’s committee, said it will create favorable conditions for the district to develop its economy, including ecotourism.
