Detail Project Plaza

Good Practices and Development of a Management Partnership for Optimized Wastewater Management in Vietnam

Content

Viet Nam is enjoying a period of strong economic growth, but is also experiencing the rapid expansion of its population. This combination places a strain on the infrastructure of its cities, especially the water supply and sanitation systems, which are not developing quickly enough to cope. At present, fewer than 60% of households in the larger cities – even the city centres – are connected to sewers. Due to the lack of sewage plants, it is estimated that only 10% of urban waste water is properly processed. On the edges of the cities in the peri-urban areas, more or less all of the wastewater channeled is discharging directly into nearby water bodies leading to environmental pollution and causing excessive health risks for local people. The challenges facing the water and sanitation sector in Viet Nam include the outdated management and operational structures of the municipal water companies. As a rule, the operators are not guided by the need to ensure cost-efficiency operation or achieve specific results. This has undermined the quality of their internal decision-making processes with respect to investments and human resources, and leaves the cities with an inadequate system of sewers, sewage works and pumping stations. At the national level, there is a lack of incentives or a conducive environment to encourage greater involvement on the part of the private sector. As part of the developpp.de programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements on behalf of the ministry, Tilia GmbH and GIZ have entered into a development partnership. Together, they are cooperating with the Bac Ninh Drainage and Wastewater Treatment Company and the Soc Trang Urban Public Works Company to improve the quality and efficiency of their operations. In this way, Tilia and GIZ aim to develop replicable examples of sustainable water management which can then be promoted for wider uptake.