HCMC – Hanoi City plans to spend VND21 trillion cleaning up four heavily polluted rivers over the next five years, according to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Environment.
The project, running from 2025 to 2030, will focus on To Lich, Kim Nguu, Lu and Set rivers. The funding will be allocated in three phases: VND16 trillion from 2025 to 2027, VND3.4 trillion from 2027 to 2029, and VND841 billion in the final year.
Water quality tests from 2015 to 2022 showed all the four rivers are seriously polluted, with low oxygen levels and high levels of organic matter and bacteria. The pollution mainly comes from untreated domestic wastewater. Only 30% of the city’s daily wastewater is currently treated, according to the department.
According to the plan, Hanoi authorities will build more wastewater treatment facilities, remove sludge and waste, add clean water during dry season, and improve riverbanks for public use.
A key part of the plan is the Yen Xa wastewater treatment project, launched in 2016. It includes a treatment plant with a capacity of 270,000 cubic meters per day and a 53-kilometer pipeline system. However, the plant is still in trial operation, while the pipeline is under construction.
The city is also dredging the To Lich River, treating decentralized wastewater, reinforcing embankments, and adding green spaces.
