Ho Chi Minh City inaugurated Friday a major drainage system that carries sewage away from a canal running through the city to make it clean. The system is part of a key environmental project being accomplished to clean up the Saigon River and refurbish the canal.
The system, which includes three-meter-wide pipes installed under the river, filters wastewater from Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal, dilutes it and pumps the treated water into the middle of the river.
The drainage stretches more than 400 meters under the river from Binh Thanh District to District 2.
The Ho Chi Minh City Drainage Company has completed the system for 300 days. Before that, a group of Chinese contractors had installed 180 meters of drainage pipes, starting in 2003, and then abandoned the works two years ago because they failed to install the pipes under the river.
The company then took over the remaining works.
Addressing Friday’s launch of the major drainage system, Mr. Le Hoang Quan, Chairman of the city People’s Committee, said the finish of the under-the-river package showed that the company’s engineers and technicians were capable of carrying out similar works in the future.
The ongoing key environmental project comprises 32 packages in all and this package is the finish of the first stage.
The second phase will be carried out based on the accomplishment of the first one. Phase two will include the second stage of the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal wastewater treatment plant, and a sewage conveying system.
