Abstract
In the Mekong Delta (MD) in Vietnam, piped-water supply stations are being intensively built to reach the millennium development goal (MDG) to provide safe and clean drinking water resources to communities. However, studies focusing on the effectiveness of supply stations in reaching these goals are scarce to date. Water samples from 41 water supply stations in the MD were collected between June and October 2012. Water samples were analyzed for general parameters, salinity, nutrients, metal(loid)s and microbial indicator bacteria and compared with World Health Organization (WHO) and Vietnamese drinking water guidelines. In addition, 542 household interviews were conducted to investigate the connection rate to piped-water and people’s perceptions regarding piped-water supplies. The results show that water guidelines were exceeded for pH (min. 6.2), turbidity (max. 10 FTU), Cl (max. 1,576 mg·L−1), NH4 (max. 7.92 mg·L−1), Fe (431.1 µg·L−1), Hg (11.9 µg·L−1), and microbial indicator bacteria (max. total coliform 50,000 CFU 100 mL−1). Moreover, more than half of the interviewed households with access to a piped-water supply did not use this supply as a source of drinking water due to (i) high connection fees; (ii) preference for other water sources; and (iii) perceived poor quality/quantity. Our study shows that the maintenance and distribution of water supply stations should significantly improve in order for piped-water to become a reliable drinking water source. Additionally, alternatives, such as rainwater harvesting and decentralized treatment facilities, should also be considered.
Highlights
One of the Millennium Development Goals is that by 2015, the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation should be halved [1]
Piped-water is expected to be a safe drinking water source, some water quality parameters were found to exceed the drinking water guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Vietnamese Government (VG) and/or the European Union (EU) [21,22,23,24] (Table 1)
Water quality guidelines for Cl were exceeded in 18% of the water supply stations with groundwater intake, whereas supply stations with surface water intake did not exceed the guidelines set by WHO and VG
Summary
One of the Millennium Development Goals is that by 2015, the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation should be halved [1]. Surface water is widely available but is intensively polluted by nutrients, agrochemicals and microbial contaminants [3,4] Rainwater is another popular drinking water source, most people do not have sufficient storage capacity to supply water-year round [5] and the quality is often deteriorated by a variety of factors including unhygienic post-harvest practices [6]. Access to safe and clean water is a priority in the region and water supply facilities are considered to be a main solution to this problem, as stated in the National Target Program for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation [8]. Esrey et al [10]
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