October 21, 2019, By Vietnam Weekly
Last Tuesday, the 15th, officials in the capital announced that the tap water supply to districts across southwestern Hanoi was contaminated with a carcinogenic substance called styrene.
This news came five days after residents began noticing chemical and burning plastic smells coming from their tap water in Ha Dong, Thanh Xuan, Hoang Mai and Nam Tu Lien districts, home to nearly 1.5 million people, on the 10th. By the 14th, government agencies were conducting tests on the water, while the water supply company, Song Da Water Investment JSC, refused to answer questions on the matter. (Later reporting named the responsible company as the Vinaconex Water Supply JSC, or Viwasupco. I'll use that from now on.)
News then came out that on the 8th, residents in Hoa Binh Province, 60 kilometers west of Hanoi, had seen a truck dumping over two tons of used engine oil in a stream that feeds into the Da River. A water treatment plant run by the above-mentioned water company sits on that river.
Photos of the foul-looking water appeared online, while people living in the impacted districts resorted to buying bottled water for all of their needs or waiting in line for water to be distributed from trucks, a throwback to the government subsidy period. (Tap water can't be consumed here, but it is used for cooking and washing.)
It now appears likely that Viwasupco knew about the oil dump within a day of it occurring, yet it made no public announcement and attempted to fix the problem by simply having employees skim oil off the top of the river and injecting chlorine into it.
Last Wednesday, after city officials confirmed something was wrong with the water, Viwasupco cut supplies to over 250,000 households, even though they had initially claimed their water was safe. They resumed service the following day after saying they had cleaned their systems.
On Friday, Starbucks closed seven of its locations in the affected districts, while on the same day city officials said tap water in the area had reached safe levels again, though they still advised residents not to use it.
Meanwhile, Viwasupco has tried to deflect all responsibility. At a press conference last Thursday, the CEO reportedly said the company is "the biggest victim in this case and the company hopes the police will soon find the true culprit." This came after another company official dismissed concerns from residents by saying the chemical smell in their water was simply from chlorine, while even that smell was "subjective."
On Friday, specialized oil filters were installed on the Da River, while on Saturday, police in Hoa Binh Province arrested two suspects involved in dumping the oil, ultimately leading to this crisis. Last night, the third involved suspect turned himself in. What the hell were they thinking?
The fact that it took five days for both local officials and Viwasupco to announce that something was seriously wrong with the tap water flowing into thousands of households is extremely concerning. In an op-ed, a lawyer named Ngo Tu Ngan asks the highly relevant question of 'Can officials be trusted to make responsible statements during a crisis?'
This ongoing fiasco, combined with the confusing aftermath of the Rang Dong lightbulb warehouse fire in September and the attack on AirVisual earlier this month, has made for a worrying couple of months in Hanoi.
I'll close by sharing this Twitter thread from Andrew Whelton, an environmental engineer at Purdue University, who makes the case that the water crisis could be much worse than even Viwasupco knows.
Thanks for reading!
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