HCMC – More than 38% of water tanks at apartment buildings in HCMC do not meet quality standards, according to the HCMC Center for Disease Control (HCDC).
Recent inspections showed that only 61.9% of water tanks passed safety checks. The results were presented at a city health conference on April 16, reported the Vietnam News Agency.
Truong Son, deputy head of HCDC’s Public Health Division, said many buildings do not clean their tanks regularly or conduct frequent water testing. Some buildings lacked transparency in reporting results.
He noted that several apartment buildings are self-managed or lack management boards, which limits funding for maintenance and water quality checks.
Water from treatment plants meets safety standards, but quality may degrade during distribution, especially through aging pipelines and unmaintained storage systems, Son said.
HCDC plans to continue inspecting major water suppliers in 2025. Facilities with a daily capacity of over 1,000 cubic meters will be monitored, while smaller providers will be supervised in coordination with local health units. The agency will also assess microbial risks in apartment water sources.
The People’s Committee of HCMC has approved a clean water management plan for 2025. All water suppliers, users, and self-extracting households will undergo regular and unscheduled testing.
The city’s Department of Health will lead the monitoring effort, working with HCDC and district-level health centers to enforce compliance.
