CURRENT SITUATION AND POLICIESON WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT IN VIETNAM

BUI HOAI NAM
Deputy Director, Environmental Science InstituteVietnam Environment Administration, Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment
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CONTENT
1. Legal system

2. Vietnam Environmental Quality Standards

3. Current situation of waste water management inVietnam
4. Coordinating policies and technological development
investment in treatment of sewage in Vietnam

5. Difficulties and challenges in the management2

I. Legal system
Law onEnvironmental
Protection 2014

Law on Water
Resources 2012

Decree No 19/2015
Detailing theImplementation of aNumber of Articles of
the Law on
Environmental
Protection

Decree No 201/2013
Detailing theImplementation a
Number of Articles of
the Law on Water
Resources

Law on Urban
Planning 2009

Decree No 80/2014 on
The Drainage andTreatment ofWastewater

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WATER ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN VIETNAM

GOVERNMENT-Ministry of Construction (MOC)-Ministry of Industry and Trade(MOIT)-Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development (MARD)-Ministry of Health (MOH)

Ministry of
Natural Resources andEnvironment (MORNE)(Decree 21/2013/NĐ-CP onmandates)

Department of Natural
Resources and Environment(DONRE)

Assisting agencies- Vietnam Environment
Administration –VEA
(Decree 25/2014/NĐ-CPon mandates)- Department of Water
Resources
Management

Environment Protection
Agency (EPA)

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II. VIETNAM ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STANDARDS
2.1. Water environmental quality standard system+ Surface water and ground water quality standard :Surface water and ground water quality standard
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QCVN 08:2015/BTNMT on surface

02 columns of limit values

water quality2

and 33 parameters

QCVN 09:2015/BTNMT on ground

01 column of limit values

water quality
3and 32 parameters.

QCVN10:2015/BTNMT on sea water Standards for coastal, inshore
qualityand offshore

5+ Waste water quality standards:
Waste water quality standards

1QCVN 14:2008/BTNMT
waste water quality

onColumns Parametersof limitvalues
02
11
domestic

2

QCVN 04:2016/BTNMT
waste water quality

onlivestock

02

06

3

QCVN 40:2011/BTNMT
waste wateronindustrial

02

366

• Specific waste water quality standards for some industries andservices sectors:
No
12
3
4
5
6
7

Waste water quality standards
National Technical Regulation on waste water of ethanol fuelproduction
National Technical Regulation on Textile dyeing industrial
wastewater
National Technical Regulation on Paper and pulp industrial
wastewater
National Technical Regulation on seafood processing industrial
wastewater
National Technical Regulation on natural rubber processing
industrial wastewater
National Technical Regulation on Steel processing industrial
wastewater
National Technical Regulation on medical wastewater

8 National Technical Regulation on petrol warehouse and stores
wastewater
9 National Technical Regulation on offshore oil and gas works

No of standards
QCVN 60MT:2015/BTNMTQCVN 13MT:2015/BTNMTQCVN 12MT:2015/BTNMTQCVN 11MT:2015/BTNMTQCVN 01MT:2015/BTNMT
QCVN
52:2013/BTNMTQCVN
28:2010/BTNMT
QCVN
29:2010/BTNMT
QCVN
35:2010/BTNMT
72.2. Difficulties and limitation :• For the private sector, standard of water andwastewater quality stipulated limited values of waterusing purpose and wastewater discharge volume.
However, there has not any regulations of limited
values of wastewater discharge correlative loading
capacity of each river basin in Vietnam.
• Limited values of wastewater quality standard areloosened than surface water quality standard at thepoint of reception. Some specific industrial
wastewater standards are lower than generalindustrial wastewater standards (VN standard04:2011). The loosening of standards for wastewater
quality causes by lack of technical and financial
treatments of enterprises and policy of facilitating
economy development.
8III. Current situation of waste water management in Vietnam
3.1. Status quo of wastewater pollution:1) Industrial wastewater
Status quo treatment
Status quo of discharging

Industrial zones:
Total wastewater is450.000 m3/day/night

Industrial complexes:
610/660 operatingcomplexes. No data ofwastewater discharging

Craft villages:
5000 villages, no data ofwastewater discharging

Industrial zones:
60% of the total
wastewater from 212/283
operating industrial zone
(equivalent to 75%) istreatedIndustrial complexes:
5% of operating industrial
complexes haveconcentrated wastewater
treatment system

Craft villages:
almost have not wastewater
treatment system. Directly
discharge to environment

Automatic monitoring system

Industrial zones:
38,6% of 212 industrialzones have automatic
monitoring system

Industrial complexes:
Non automatic
monitoring system

Craft villages:
Non automatic
monitoring system,92) Domestic wastewater:
According to the Ministry of Construction, to the end of2014:+ About 3,080,000m3 of wastewater discharged
per day/night+ 30 sewerage factories with a capacity of809,000m3/ day/night; 40 sewerage factories are being
invested with capacity of 1,6 million m3/day/night.
However, the factories have just operated andreached 50% of design capacity and treated 65% of
total wastewater.

103) Medical wastewater:
Ministry of Health (MOH), 2014: 50% of
hospitals in Vietnam do not have wastewater
treatment systems.
4) Livestock wastewater:
National Environment Report 2014: 1700/23,500
livestock farms (equivalent to 7.2%) in Vietnam
have wastewater treatment systems.

113.2. Pollution of river basins:
Reported of MONRE (2015):
Pollution of 03 major river basinsin Vietnam (Cau, Nhue Day andDong Nai) is at an alarming rate,duetourban
wastewater
discharged.
The measured parameters areexceeded Vietnam standard,
mainly organic matter, TSS,
COD, BOD ...

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IV. Policy on coordination and and investment of developmentof wastewater treatment technologies in Vietnam•According to the Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA), in the period
2011-2015, motivation of International cooperation has helped Vietnam to
attracted more than 30 international projects on the environment with a total
budget of 755 million USD.
• The capital sources have been mobilized for investment in environmental
remediation works such as solid waste landfills, domestic wastewater treatment
system, medical waste incinerator ...
• According to estimates of MONRE, the demand of investment for Environmental
protection amount to more than 7,6 billion USD.
•In the field of wastewater treatment, the Vietnam enterprises have gradually
approach, cooperation and technology transfer from abroad. Some model has
been transferred and applied practically in the production base for a number ofsubjects of medical effluent, living activities and other industries: Johkasou(Japan), DEWATS (Germany), Biofast- M (United States), AAO (Japan), C-Tech... The environmental experts assume, the environmental process technology
which been transferred mostly bring the high efficiency.
13* The need for supporting and developing the environmental
industries in Viet Nam
According to the MONRE: on the whole country, all kinds ofwaste water untreated up to 1.5 billion m3 (of which about 1 billionm3 is the urban waste water and industrial areas).
Current status of the service industry and the environment
have not met the needs of environmental protection in general andwaste treatment in particular. Therefore, Vietnam needs thefinancial support as so as science and technology of the developed
countries to invest in and deal with environmental problems.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), theenvironmental industry in Vietnam so far in 2015 is only
manageable 2-3% of urban wastewater treatment. Demand
forecasts developed environmental industry now in Vietnam is huge,
to year of 2020 the production of wastewater treatment equipment
shall be 1 billion USD and 2030 the forecast numbers shall be
4.5billion USD.
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V. Difficulties and challenges in the management:• First, the regulations on urban wastewater management, thefunctions and duties of the management bodies scattered,dispersed in too many different legal documents should makeit difficult to manage. (Due to the particular of the Vietnam
Urban and Industrial Zones, production facilities, craft villages
are still interspersed in some urban areas due to lack ofplanning)• Second, the division of responsibilities of State managementof environmental protection in the Ministries are stilloverlapping. Leading to effective management control ofurban wastewater pollution is not accomplished.
• Third, lack of manpower in wastewater management fromthe central to local levels, and there is currently no branchinspectors by the regulation of the Inspection Law.
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• Fourth, the network system of nation environmental
observational does not meet practical requirements.
Most provinces/city has no automatic monitoring systemof the locality.
• Fifth, resources spent to pursue the environmentalcarrier is low and does not meet actual requirements.
• Sixth, the construction of sewage treatment works focus
not commensurate with the level of increase in urban
waste, leads to environmental pollution levels tend torise; (Due to lack of funding)• Seventh, the private enterprise approach to the source of
ODA to invest in building wastewater treatment systems
remains limited. (Due to inadequacies in certain law andregulations).
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Thank you for your attention!