Hanoi (VNA) – Wastewatertreatment is an urgent issue of public concern, especially in the face ofclimate change and development of industrial parks and industrial clusters, authoritieshave said.

This year, the United Nationschose the theme of “Wastewater” for World Water Day (March 22), calling for areduction in wastewater and reuse of water in a bid to ensure that everyone hasaccess to safe water by 2030.

According to the Ministry ofNatural Resources and Environment, the country is currently home to nearly 300industrial parks and 615 industrial clusters. Some 70 percent of the industrialparks and 5 percent of the industrial clusters have already built concentratedwastewater treatment systems.

More than 23 million tonnes of householdgarbage, 7 million tonnes of industrial solid waste and 630,000 tonnes ofhazardous waste are discharged into the environment each year. However, withonly 458 landfills, 337 of which are unhygienic and lack collection and wastetreatment systems. Over 100 small-scale incinerators are likely to emit toxicgas such as dioxin and furan.

The total volume of wastewaterdischarged from industrial parks nationwide exceeds 3 million cu.m per day, 70percent of them are untreated and directly discharged into the nature, causingserious consequences.

Last year, the Prime Minister agreedupon a plan on adjusting orientations for the development of water drainagesystems in urban and industrial areas until 2025 with a vision to 2050. Theplan points out the need to build safe and sustainable water drainage systems, improveretreatment of wastewater and rainwater and treatment technology, upgrade andrepair of eco-friendly and energy-saving pipeline systems, among others.

In the near future, Statemanagement agencies need to raise public awareness of environmental protectionas well as social responsibility of citizens and businesses in this field.

They are also required tostrengthen inspection and monitoring of environmental issues while workingclosely with concerned units to promptly discover and deal with polluters. Atthe same time, they must improve the capacity of their staff and provide themwith modern technical equipment for the effort.

The plan also suggests thebuilding of long-term environment management projects and application oftechnological advances in monitoring the environment.

In industrial parks, it is a mustfor infrastructure developers to construct concentrated wastewater collectionand treatment systems before being authorized to operate.

Master plans and investmentprojects will be publicized, making it easier for individuals and organisationsto give feedback on their impacts on the environment.

The government and industrialparks have to pioneer in overseeing, adjusting and implementing policies tominimise hazardous waste.-VNA