This is part of the Yen Xawastewater treatment system funded by Japanese official development assistance (ODA)with the goal of “resurrecting” the capital city’s rivers that arecurrently overwhelmed with raw sewage, by redirecting the untreatedsource of pollution to the treatment plant instead of discharging itdirectly into water sources.
The project includes theconstruction of the 680-million-USD Yen Xa wastewater treatment facility inThanh Tri district with a processing capacity of 270,000 cu.m per day, andthree underground sewer systems for Lu river, Ha Dong district and To Lich river.
The entire length of thepipelines for the project is about 52.6km, with pipe diametres rangingfrom 315-2,200mm.
The construction of theunderground sewer for the To Lich River is the most important component of thefour, which will be 21km long including an 11.4km section running through theriver from Hoang Quoc Viet street in Cau Giay district to Quang bridge in ThanhTri district – which began on May 18 afternoon.
The project is considered to beof key importance as it will collect wastewater from residential areasin the city’s crowded urban districts – Tay Ho, Ba Dinh, Dong Da, Cau Giayand Hai Ba Trung – and parts of the outlying rural districts of Thanh Triand Ha Dong, in order to keep the To Lich river clean.
A Japanese contractor is incharge of implementing this component.
This component will employa tunneling method known as pipe jacking, which allows pipes tobe laid 6-19m under the river’s bed along a 13km section.
According to Nguyen Van Hung, Directorof the Hanoi Management Board of Investment, Construction Projects on WaterSupply, Drainage and Environment – the main investor of the project, the methodcaused little disruption to overground activities such as landclearance.
This would be the first timethe method had been used in Hanoi, Hung added.
A JICA representative said thatdue to the importance of the To Lich component, Hanoi’s management boardneeded to make sure that all of JICA’s measures and guidelines regardingthe environment, society and safety would be strictly observed during theimplementation of the component.
Nguyen Duc Chung, Chairman ofthe municipal People’s Committee, said the components for the projecthad “basically” met the anticipated progress, but insisted they should becompleted ahead of schedule as people had been suffering from pollutionin the river for many years now.
To Lich used to be connected tothe Hong (Red) river but became what was colloquially known as ‘deadriver’ when there was no water exchange with other freshwater sourceswhile being subject to up to 150,000 cu.m of untreated household wastewater aday.
The project was expected tohelp address the pollution in the To Lich river and revive the waterway, along-standing wish of many Hanoians, Chung said, adding that heexpected the project to be operational in 2021./.