I C U SNewsletter
Volume 13

Number3

Oct. to Dec. 2013

International Center for Urban Safety Engineering
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

Water Management in Vietnamese Cities:
Present State and Vision for the Future
By Viet Anh NGUYEN
Associate Professor and Vice Director, Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering (IESE)
National University of Civil Engineering, Vietnam
Urban water supply
Water is a crucial component of life
in any city. The water issue is often
becoming more and more crucial
in fast growing megacities. As ofJune 2013, there were 765 cities
and towns in Vietnam providing
residence for more than 32% of thetotal population of the country. The
total design capacity of urban watersupply systems is about 6.5 million
m3/day, while the actual operation
capacity is 5.7 million m3/day or 89%
of the design capacity. The average
ratio of urban population served bycentralized water supply systems
is 77% or 32.6 million persons. An
average water consumption rate isa 101 l/cap/day, ranging from 33
to 213 l/cap/day (Figure 1). The
average energy consumption foreach cubic meter of water produced
is 0.35 KWl/m3, ranging from 0.18
to 1.0 KWh/m3. The cost of energy
on average is 26.3%, ranging from
4.2% to 47.6% of total water system
operation and maintenance costs.
Adequate distribution of wateramong users while ensuring water
source protection is one of the most
crucial issues facing Vietnamese

Hanoi city, Vietnam

urban water supply. Master plansfor urban and industrial watersupply for core development zones
in Vietnam are under development
and revision. Other key issues inurban water supply in Vietnam
include: (1) surface water scarcity,
salt intrusion, usage conflict; (2)groundwater depletion; (3) nonrevenue water: (4) water pollution(NOMs,
industrial
chemicals,
pathogens, chlorine disinfection,etc. in surface water, organic andnitrogen compounds, arsenic, salt
intrusion, etc. in ground water);(5) poor Operation & MaintenanceFigure 1 Average water consumption in urban households
from 6 regions in Vietnam(Source: Ministry of Construction – World Bank (MOC-WB),
Urban water sector database, 2013)

capacity, especially for peri-urban
and rural water supply systems; (6)need for process optimization, energy
savings, efficient management;and (7) privatization, self financing
capacity and cost recovery at water
utilities.
Urban waste water
management
Over the last three decades, alegal framework for environmental
protection, urban and rural
infrastructuredevelopmentin
general, and sanitation or wastewater
management in particular has been
making significant steps forward. The
first Environmental Protection Law
was issued in 1995 and its Revision
issued in 2005. The Environmental
Protection Fee imposed to urban
and industrial wastewater began
to be enforced in 2003. Effluent
standards for different types ofwastewater have been set up. Accessto toilets is now 94%, with 90% ofhouseholds using septic tanks as ameans of on-site treatment. 60% ofhouseholds dispose of wastewater toa public sewage system, primarily
comprising combined systems. By
September 2013, some 20 urban
wastewater systems had been
constructed in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh
City and other provincial towns

Page 2

Figure 2 Urban sewage connections against city GDP per capita(Source: East Asia and the Pacific (EAP),
Sanitation review, World Bank, 2013)and cities, with a total capacity of
600,000 m3/day. Meanwhile, some
30 new wastewater systems are in
the design/construction phase.
Despite the above-mentioned
impressive
initiatives,
urban
sanitation continues to face criticalissues that need to be urgently
addressed as follows: (1) mosturban sewage and drainage systems
are combined, with low household
connection rates (especially in low
density urban and peri-urban areasand in urban areas of central region
where soil is mostly sandy), and only
10% of wastewater is being treated;(2) only 4% of sewage is treated,
and fecal sludge management isgenerally poor in most cities; (3) cost
recovery of the capital and O&M
costs of the wastewater systems
are generally low (Figure 2); (4)institutional arrangements do not
encourage efficient system operation
with the wastewater enterprises
having limited autonomy to manage
operations and undertake systemdevelopment; (5) financing needs
are still very high, and are estimatedat USD 8.3 billion to provide sewer
service to the estimated 2025 urban
population of 36 million; (6) lack ofunderstanding by decision makers
of appropriate technical solutions
and the limited land available for
the Wastewater Treatment plants(WWTPs) has resulted in theconstruction of expensive treatment
facilities with advanced technology
and imbalance with household
connection and network investment;(7) an integrated river basin
management concept is not being
applied; (8) urban sanitation planning

Figure 3 Recommended sources for fundingin urban water and wastewater systems

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 13, No.3

is not being included properly inmaster urban planning and planningof other development plans; and(9) is limited participation from theprivate sector in urban wastewater
management activities.
Recommendations forsustainable urban water
management in Vietnamese
urban areas
Analyzing the current state andevolution trend over the last 20 years,
the author would like to propose thefollowing recommendations aimed atsustainable urban water managementin Vietnamese urban areas.
(1) The principles of integrated
water resources management anda river basin approach should beapplied as a means of achieving
coordination across sectors andreduction of the current sector
fragmentation. Sanitation planningon a citywide or river basin widebasis should be initially conductedprior to mobilization of investment
and implementation. The sanitationplans should carefully consider the
performance of low cost technology
options and delivery approaches
to provide efficient and affordable
solutions for the range of physicaland socio-economic conditions
present in a city or river basin.
(2) The current commitment
by central government to waterand sanitation improvement needs
to be sustained. Co-ordination of
government-donor dialogue on sector
financing at a high level and among
government agencies at central andlocal levels needs to be improved.
(3) Besides Official Development
Assistance (ODA) and state budget,
additional financing sources for
sanitation investment need to be
mobilized (Figure 3). Government
grants in the short to medium

term may change in the longer
run to other instruments, such as
issuance of government bonds,
the introduction of property taxes
and the introduction of earmarked
increases of personal income taxes.
Increase of wastewater tariff isa key tool to achieve O&M cost
recovery and system sustainability.
Policies to encourage Public-Private
Partnerships (PPP) and Private
Sector Participation (PSP) are to
be developed and implemented.
Policies such as favorable loan
and tax conditions are needed toencourage the private sector toinvest in resource recovery fromwastewater and sludge treatment
including the use of reclaimed waterand the production of wastewaterdriven electricity and heat for sale to
the grid.
(4) Flood management shouldbe implemented based on theriver basin management approach
where appropriate “less impact
development” solutions should
be considered. Storm water flow
delay and attenuation using naturaland constructed systems are now
widely used under the concept called“Sustainable urban drainage solutions– SUDS.” Legal framework andsystem of design standards should be
developed accordingly. Harvestingand storage of storm water can also

lead to other benefits such as the useof stored water for fire fighting, toilet
flushing, gardening, air conditioning,etc.
(5) Safe and efficient resource
recovery should be targeted insanitation planning. The reuseof treated wastewater and sludge
would bring significant benefits tothe integrated sanitation system.
The technical solutions, with an
integrated treatment of the different
waste fractions – for example, septictank sludge, sludge from future
wastewater treatment plants, aswell as organic wastes – should be
encouraged. The produced biogas
caters to energy self-sufficient
operation of the plants. The digested
sludge (residue) is further treatedand utilized for hygienically safe
fertilizer to improve soil quality, as
it contains rich nutrients and organic
fibers ideal for plants (Figure 4).
(6) Engineered facilities should
be designed together with “softinterventions’’ such as capacity
building and institutional andfinancial arrangements. In addition,
Information,
EducationandCommunication (IEC) programs topromote behavioral change shouldbe implemented to raise publicawareness and appreciation of thebenefits of water, hygienic practice,and environmental sanitation.

Figure 4 Scheme of integrated waste management system

ICUS Newsletter Oct. to Dec. 2013

Page 3

USMCA 2013 in Hanoi, Vietnam
By Dr. Nguyen Hoang Giang

The 12th International Symposium
on New Technologies for Urban
Safety of Mega Cities in Asia
(USMCA 2013) was held during
Oct 9-11, 2013 at Hilton Hotel
Hanoi & the National Universityof Civil Engineering (NUCE). The
symposium was jointly organized
by NUCE, ICUS and the Vietnam
Federation of Civil Engineering
Association (VFCEA). It was held
under the auspices of the Ministryof Construction, Ministry of
Science and Technology, Ministryof Education and Training,
JICA and JSCE. Among the 155
submitted papers, 131 papers were
presented in 10 parallel sessions
along with 7 keynote speeches.
Leading companies and institutions
prepared 12 exhibition booths at
the symposium as a platform todisseminate their activities.
The
inaugurationofthesymposium was chaired by Dr. Le
Van Thanh, President of NUCE andthe message of the University ofTokyo was read out by Prof. Kimiro
MEGURO, director of ICUS. Mr.
Hirofumi MIYAKE, councilor,
Embassy of Japan in Vietnam; Dr.
Nguyen Dinh Toan, Deputy Ministerof Construction; and Mr. Fumihiko
OKIURA, Senior representative of
JICA Vietnam, also spoke at theinauguration ceremony.

Seven keynote speakers delivered
interesting and precious informationin several topics: Dr. Hiroshi
DOBASHI, President, Shutoko
Engineering Co., Ltd., Japan;
Prof. Phan Quang Minh, Dean of
Building and Industrial Engineering
Department, NUCE; Mr. Tran
Nhat Thanh, President, Delta
Corporation; Dr. Hisaya KAMURA
from JFE Steel Corporation;
Prof. Taketo UOMOTO, Chief
Executive, Public Works ResearchInstitute; Prof. Nguyen Viet
Anh, Vice Dean, Environmental
Engineering Department, NUCE;
and Prof. Hiroshi NAITO, Professor
Emeritus, the University of Tokyo.
The symposium covered essential
topics for urban safety of mega
cities, namely; disaster response
and recovery, risk assessment,
prediction, and early-warning;decision-making
technologies;
planning and development of urban
infrastructure systems; lifecycle
management of infrastructure
systems; climate change mitigation
andadaptation;
development
and application of sustainable
technologies;
applicationofgeospatial technologies; and casehistories of urban constructions.
At the end of the symposium,the Excellent Young ResearcherAward – prepared by ICUS to

USMCA 2013 participants in Hanoi, Vietnam

Page 4

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 13, No.3

encourage the activities of young
researchers – was awarded to six
young researchers from various
universities from several countries(see the details in page7). Moreover,pre- and post symposium tours werealso held. A tour of Hanoi and atechnical tour to Nhat Tan Bridge,
the biggest bridge in Vietnam, wascarried out on the pre-symposiumday. The tour of Ha Long Bay, theworld heritage site, on Oct 11, 2013provided a beautiful and memorable
trip for the international participantson the last day of the symposium.
In brief, the Proceedings of
USMCA2013 will be a valuablereference for policy makers andresearchers. USMCA2013 hascreated a forum for both internationaland domestic engineers andpractitioners to meet and widen their
networks. Professors and experts
were impressed with the image,the people and the hospitality ofVietnam. Hanoi, with the autumn
fragrance of milk or “sữa” flower
and the diversity of cuisine, createdmany unforgettable memories.
USMCA2013hasconcluded
and valuable experiences were
exchanged and recommendations
from experts achieved for thesustainable
developmentof
megacities of the world in generaland Vietnam in particular.

Quick Report on Tornado Damage in Urban areas
By Dr. Makoto Fujiu

This article is a quick report on
the damage stemming from tornado
events due to a big cumulonimbus
cloud and typhoon No. 18 on
September 16th, 2013 (MANYI). The big tornado disasters
occurred in Saitama prefecture,
Japan on September 2nd and in
Chiba prefecture on September
16th. According to the Japan
Meteorological Agency, these
tornadoes were evaluated as F2
and F1 by F-Scale, respectively. As
of October 7th, 2013, the numberof injured people was 67, and thenumber of damaged buildings was
1,529. Figure 1 shows building
damage in a city block in Saitama
prefecture. These houses suffereddamage due to the strong wind on
the roof and wall.
Figure 2 shows a totally collapsed
house due to strong wind, andFigures 3 and 4 are examples ofseriously damaged houses due tothe tornado, which can be classified
as major damage based on thebuilding damage assessment by the
local government. Figure 5 shows

wall damage caused by impact
from flying objects. Figure 6 showsa garbage collection site in Saitama
prefecture. A lot of garbage was
generated by the tornado, and thegarbage collection began on the
day after the disaster. Figure 7
shows the restoration of electricity
poles by the electricity company.
These city blocks were still blacked
out the day following the disasterbecause many poles were destroyedby the tornado.

Figure 1 Totally collapsed house(1)Figure 2 Totally collapsed house (2)Figure 3 Severely damaged house (1)Figure 4 Severely damaged house (2)Figure 5 Wall damage

Figure 6 Garbage collection site

Figure 7 Restoration of electricity

ICUS Newsletter Oct. to Dec. 2013

Page 5

RNUS: Rural livelihood household survey in Thailand
By Dr. Akiyuki Kawasaki

In order to clarify the structureof household livelihoods in rural
agricultural areas of Thailand, we
conducted an interview survey in
Mae-La village, Na Khorn Luang
District, Ayutthaya Province incentral Thailand. This is a part of theresearch project “Breaking negative
spiral of poverty and environmental
degradation: income inequality andits environmental impacts between

urban and rural areas in Southeast
Asia”, led by Dr. Kazuo Oki, IIS, The
University of Tokyo. Researchers
from Kochi University and Nagoya
University also joined the survey.
We carried out interviews with110 households. The questionnaire
consisted of 14 sections forcomprehending multiple aspects ofhousehold livelihoods, including
demographics of household andfamily members, status of landownership, farming, fishery, livestock
and poultry farming, ownership ofland and movable properties, savings,
debts, and level of happiness.
The result of this survey will be
published in an academic journal withcomparative results with northeasternregion of Thailand and Indonesia.

A farmer’s house (left) and a snapshot of interview survey to farmers (right)

BNUS: Inspection of Ready-made Garment FactoriesTraining Program for Structural and Fire Auditors
By Prof. M. A. Ansary

Several building disasters haveoccurred recently in Bangladesh,such as the collapse of the Spectrum
Garments Building in 2005, firein Tajreen Garments Building in2012 and more recently (April2013) the fire at the Rana Plaza in
Savar. Following the tragic incident
in Savar, all concerned people
including the labour community,
the owners of Ready Made Garment(RMG) industries, building owners,
local authorities and different
government agencies became panicstricken and immediately began toundertake a program of inspecting
RMG factory buildings in order to
identify the vulnerable ones.

Page 6

Shaken by the colossal loss of livesof garment workers in the Savar
incident, the International Labour
Organization (ILO) has comeforward and started communicatingwith the Bangladesh Universityof Engineering and Technology(BUET) for technical services forassessing the safety of RMG factorybuildings throughout Bangladesh.
The Country Director of ILO has
made a formal request, and BUET
agreed to conduct the training
program that will be composed of
the following three phases:
Phase I: Preliminary Assessment
Phase II: Use of Equipment
Phase III: Detailed Analysis

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 13, No.3

Phase I training will require 2 days
– one day of desk training and one
day of field training. Phase II will
require 4 days of intensive hands-on
training with different equipment.
Phase III will also require 4 days
for the development of computermodeling skills for the analysis of
the inspection data.
In this report, the training on
Structural and Electrical & Fire
Safety Assessment for Phase I, held
between August 29 and September
1, 2013 at BUET is presented. In
this training program, 60 structural
engineers and 70 architects,
electrical and mechanical engineers
were trained.

ICUS Welcomes Dr. Miho IRYO
By Prof. Kimiro Meguro

ICUS is pleased to welcome Dr.
Miho Iryo as a lecturer starting
November 1st, 2013. Dr. Iryo joined
theEnvironment
Informatics
Division. After receiving a Dr.
Eng. from the University of Tokyo,
she worked at the National Institutefor Land and InfrastructureManagement
andNagoyaUniversity.
Her research area is trafficengineering focusing on multimodaltransport in order to achieve a safeand effective road environment
by efficient road space allocationand traffic control. Her works

include empirical data analysis forunderstanding how vehicle andpedestrian movements interact witheach other as well as react to spatialconstraints and traffic controls. A
simulation tool representing their
maneuvers is being developed forassessing road designs.
We again welcome Dr. Iryo to
ICUS and the Institute of Industrial
Science, and are looking forward to
her great contributions towards safer
and sustainable urban systems.

Excellent young Researcher Award at USMCA 2013
Researcher
Tsubasa Sasaki
Tomofumi Ikenaga
Naoc Duyen Nguyen
Nguyen Chou Lan
Chunri Quan
Seemanta Sharma
Bhagabati

Title of presentation
Experimental application of biogrout to sand with fines
Assessment of multi-hazard risk in mega cities in JapanThe deformation of flexible pipe buried in soil
with different degree of compaction
Scale effects on the shear strength of waste
in coastal landfill sites
Residual seismic capacity evaluation of RC framewith weak-beams based on energy absorption capacity
Comparing benefits of hydropower developmentin two boundary systems in the Mekong

Organization
The Univ. of Tokyo, JapanThe Univ. of Tokyo, JapanCountry
Japan
Japan

The Univ. of Tokyo, Japan

VietnamNational University of Civil
Engineering, Vietnam

Vietnam

The Univ. of Tokyo, Japan

Vietnam

Asian Institute of Technology,
ThailandIndia

ICUS Activities October – December, 2013
Date
Sep. 27- Oct. 01
Oct. 07- 12
Oct. 03- Nov. 12

Name
Prof. Sawada
All ICUS staff
Dr. Kawasaki

Country
China
VietnamThailand

Oct. 13- 20

Prof. Sawada

CambodiaOct. 15- 18

Dr. Numada

USA

City
ShenzhenHanoi
BangkokPhnom Penh
Kampong Cham
Los Angeles

Oct. 20- 25

Dr. Kato

China

Sichuan

Oct. 26 – Nov. 15
Nov. 03- 05
Dec. 04- Jan. 17
Dec. 10- 12

Prof. Sawada
Dr. Kawasaki
Dr. Kawasaki
Dr. Kawasaki

BrazilMyanmarThailandSingapore

YangonBangkok&Category
Symposium
Symposium

PurposeDEHRS2013
USMCA2013
Operation of RNUS & lectures

Investigation

Field survey in cambodia

Workshop

To attend workshop at USC
International lecture on Urban Disaster Prevention
Planning
Carbon dynamics of amozonian forest
Visit to Yangon Technology University
Operation of RNUS & lecture
Visit to the National University of Singapore

LectureInvestigation
Meeting

USMCA2014: Nov 3-5, Yangon, Myanmar
The 13th International Symposium on New Technologies for Urban Safely of Mega Cities in Asia
(USMCA2014) will be held in Yangon, Myanmar during November 3 - 5, 2014,
collaborating with Yangon Technological University (YTU).

ICUS Newsletter Oct. to Dec. 2013

Page 7

Editor’s note…
The
USMCA
2013
was
successfully held in Hanoi, Vietnam,
and we are pleased to expand our
network with experts. Now Vietnam
is developing very rapidly andhas many construction projects
for infrastructures. We could feelthe atmosphere of the boom in the
symposium and from people in
the town. For the constructions,Japanese companies also join andcontribute to their development
through the latest technologies andfinancial support by JICA etc. We
believe, furthermore, experiences ofJapanese development and current
situation should be transferred.
The importance of maintenance ofinfrastructures and the considerationof risks in the city such as disasters
have been recognized and studied
including lessons learnt fromfailures. The knowledge on the urban
safety should be provided throughthe ICUS network continuously forthe establishment of sustainableurban systems.
Next USMCA will be held in
Yangon Myanmar, November 2014.
ICUS is now actively communicating
with
YangonTechnological
University(YTU),
providinglectures, holding seminars etc. since2012. The latest activities will bereported in the next ICUS newsletter.
Myanmar is the most promisingcountry now in Asian region and willrapidly develop. ICUS would like tocontribute to it from the beginningstage through the technology,
knowledge and education. Myanmar
will face the difficulties in the eachstage of the development that other
Asian countries have experienced.
This can also be transferred by the
ICUS network.
By K. Nagai

International Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS)
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
Tel: (+81-3) 5452-6472, Fax: (+81-3) 5452-6476
http://icus.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp

The International Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS) is a research
center located at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo.
The purpose of ICUS is to identify, investigate, and resolve issues towards therealization of sustainable urban systems for the prosperity and safety of society
considering challenging socio-economic problems.