Wastewater management andtreatment in urban areas inVietnam
MSc. NGUYEN Hoang Anh
Pollution Control Department(VEA – MONRE)

MAIN CONTENTS
zWastewater releasestatuszTreatment status
zManagement status
zRecommendations andorientations

WASTEWATER RELEASEDOMESTIC SOURCESz Water consumption percapita: 150 l/day (source: JICA
project for sewage planning in Hanoi)

z Total discharge in Hanoi:
793,207 m3/day
z Total discharge in Hai
Phong: 255,988 m3/day
z Total discharge in Ho Chi
Minh city: 876,170 m3/day(source: 2009, PCD project for building thewastewater pollution control action plan inHanoi, Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh city)

WASTEWATER RELEASE
INDUSTRIAL SOURCES
zMain sources:o Platingo Food processingo Chemicalo Textile and dyeingo Leathero Paper and pulp productiono Automobile repair and mechanics

WASTEWATER RELEASE
INDUSTRIAL SOURCES (cont.)zDischarge:o Total discharge from industrial zones/parks:
500,000 – 700,000 m3/day (estimated)o Discharge from outside of industrial
zones/parks (300,000 establishments):
insufficient dataImages: Industrial wastewater

WASTEWATER RELEASEHOSPITAL SOURCESz Hanoi:o 32 hospitals, >200 medical
centres, >2,000 private clinics
o Discharge: 6,083.6 m3/dayz Hai Phong:o 9 hospitals, 20 medicalcentres, >50 clinics
o Discharge: 1,800 – 2,000
m3/dayz Ho Chi Minh city:o 83 hospitals, 26 medical
centreso Discharge: 17,000 – 20,000
m3/dayWASTEWATER RELEASEESTIMATED TOTAL POLLUTION LOAD
Hai PhongHo Chi
Minh city

Domestic
161.22wastewater

55.119213.7

Hospital
0.912
wastewater

0.3

3.0

Industrial
60.782wastewater

Insufficientdata

Insufficientdata(Unit: BOD5tons/day)

Hanoi

Source: 2009, PCD, Project for building the wastewater pollution control action
plan in Hanoi, Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh city

WASTEWATER RELEASEESTIMATED POLLUTION CONTRIBUTION IN HANOITypePercentage

Domestic wastewater78,7%

Hospital wastewater

20,7%

Industrial wastewater

0,5%

Source: 2009, PCD, Project for building the wastewater pollution control action
plan in Hanoi, Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh city

WASTEWATER TREATMENTDOMESTIC SOURCESzOver 700 municipalities in Vietnam
zOnly 10 centralized municipal wastewater
treatment systems
zPercentage of municipal domestic
wastewater treated: less than 10%

WASTEWATER TREATMENT
INDUSTRIAL SOURCESz Only 30% of the industrial zones/parks havecentralized wastewater treatment systemsz Large portion of industrial wastewater is nottreated adequately to meet the environmental
standards. Water quality of many rivers areseriously being threatened
z 300,000 small and medium-sized
establishments outside industrial zones with little
to no wastewater treatment system (due to highcost)Industrial wastewater treatment

WASTEWATER TREATMENT
INDUSTRIAL SOURCES (cont.)zInspection results (2006-2008):
o 2006: 134 out of 247 establishments (54.3%)
had treatment systems, only 34 met
environmental standard (13.8%)
o 2007: 263 out of 513 establishments (51.3%)
had treatment systems, only 67 met
environmental standard (13.1%)
o 2008: 601 out of 804 establishments (74.7%)
have treatment systems, only 287 met
environmental standard (35.7%)

WASTEWATER TREATMENTHOSPITAL SOURCESz Less than 50% of thehospitals havewastewater treatmentsystemsz Treatment capacity ofthese systems is low,
and many do notmeet theenvironmentalstandards

WASTEWATER TREATMENTTECHNOLOGY STATUS
z Type: various types, capable of treating a widerange of wastewaterz Technology level: only a few systems can treat
wastewater to meet environmental standards.
No specific criterion to assess wastewater
treatment technology in Vietnam
z Operation and maintenance: self operation andmaintenance, even with foreign technologyz Equipments, devices: produced in few numbers,
no mass production facility. Environmental
technology market has not been well developedVarious wastewater treatment technologies

WASTEWATER TREATMENTTREATMENT STATUS
zMany treatment systems are of low
technology, low cost, just to deal with theauthority
zMany systems are incompatible andimproper due to lack of professional staff
and budget (low quality equipments)
zLow awareness of the establishment
owners and their personnel in operationand maintenanceWASTEWATER TREATMENT
TREATMENT STATUSz The centralized treatment
systems of industrial parks
can only treat certain
pollutants at certain
concentration limits. Eg: pH,BOD, COD, SS, colority,nutrients (N, P)… can betreated to satisfy column A
and B of TCVN 5945:2005.
Other pollutants such as oil,grease, heavy metals,
however, can not be treated,thus the effluent of thesesystems do not meet theenvironmental standards

WASTEWATER MANAGEMENTzManagement agencies:o Vietnam Environmental Administration(MONRE): water pollution control, inspection,
development of legislative documents, approvalof EIA,…
o Department of Water Resources Management(MONRE): emission permito Provincial DONREs: local management,cooperating with central agencies

WASTEWATER MANAGEMENTzManagement tools:
o Environmental impact assessment (EIA)o Environmental protection commitment/scheme(for industrial establishments/zones operating
prior to 01/07/2006)
o Discharge permito Wastewater fees (67 Decree; 88 Decree)zSupporting tools:
o Environmental standardso Discharge databaseo Hotspot criteria (07 Circular of MONRE)

WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT
ON-GOING PROJECTS/TARGETS IN HANOIz Projects on runoff and wastewater drainage:building collection and drainage systems,
improving urban lake, wastewater treatment
plants…
z Percentage of treated domestic wastewater
would reach 10 – 15% by the end of 2010
z Percentage of treated industrial wastewater
would reach 40% by 2010z For hospital wastewater: 100% of hospitals andmedical centres directly under the managementof the city would be equipped with proper
wastewater treatment system

WASTEWATER MANAGEMENTz For rivers:{Wastewater collection
system would be built in
one part of To Lich river,along with a small-sized
wastewater treatment
station with advanced
technology{A centralized wastewater
treatment plant would bebuilt on a flushing gate ofNhue river, to treat
wastewater before
discharging to the river

To Lich RiverNhue RiverWASTEWATER MANAGEMENTPROJECTS/TARGETS IN HAI PHONG
z Program for runoff and wastewater drainage
managementz Program for control and treatment of industrial
discharge sourcesz Program for prevention of pollution, degradationand environmental incidents for surface andunderground water sourcesz Program for developing the database formanagement of discharge sources and controlof EIA implementation

WASTEWATER MANAGEMENTPROJECTS/TARGETS IN HO CHI MINH CITY
zPlanning a system of 9 wastewater
treatment plants (one has already been inoperation, 3 are being prepared forconstruction)
zBuilding wastewater treatment systems inlarge hospitals
zImproving centralized wastewater
treatment systems of industrial parks(equipping automatic monitoring system)RECOMMENDATIONS and ORIENTATIONSzContinue to complete the legislativesystem:o Guideline documents for the implementation ofLaw on Environmental Protection 2005
o Economic/technical normo Policy and mechanism for the socialization ofenvironmental protectiono Development of environmental services
o Strengthening administrative sanction

RECOMMENDATIONS and ORIENTATIONSzMinistries, sectors and localities:
o Enhancing environmental protection planningo Improving financial mechanism to increase theefficiency of the use of environmental budget.
o Raising budget for environmental protection.
The target is 2% of total state budget allocatedfor environmental activities by 2010
o Promoting the socialization of investment inenvironmental protection

RECOMMENDATIONS and ORIENTATIONSzRegarding technology:o Studying, applying and transferring clean andenvironmentally friendly technology
o Developing wastewater treatment technology
suitable for Vietnam’s conditiono Promoting the application of information
technology and the replication of advanced
environmental protection models
o An orientation for wastewater treatment
technology development is essential

RECOMMENDATIONS and ORIENTATIONSzRivers and basins: Continuing theimplementation of 3 projects forenvironmental protection in river basins(approved by the Prime Minister)o Cau rivero Nhue – Day rivero Dong Nai riverRECOMMENDATIONS and ORIENTATIONSzPollution control:o Strengthening the inspection of compliance ofestablishments and individuals in production
and businesso Enhancing pollution control at sources,
especially legislating the automatic monitoringof wastewater sources in industrial parkso Promoting the application of worldwide
technological advances in pollution control

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOURATTENTION!