H.E Robyn Mudie, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam represented the Australian Government
AWA, with support from the Australian Government and the Government of Vietnam, has facilitated another two technology demonstrations that use Australian advanced water treatment technology to increase access to safe drinking water in rural areas of An Giang and Dong Thap province, Vietnam.
These two drinking water treatment systems use advanced, low-cost water treatment technology provided by Akvotek and Hydroscience. Both companies have formed a partnership in Vietnam that includes the export of technology from Australia and local manufacturing in Ho Chi Minh City to pilot a treatment process involving ultrafiltration membranes, activated carbon, ultraviolet disinfection and automation. The two systems have a capacity of up to 20,000 litres/day of safe drinking water for the rural communities of Vietnam. This equates to the human consumption needs of 20,000 people per day, meeting the World Health Organisation recommended consumption of two litres per person per day.
The drinking water produced by these two systems is provided to 2,593 students and teachers of five schools in An Giang and Dong Thap province (three primary schools and two kindergartens) and residents living nearby.
The launch ceremony was organised on 29 April 2022 at Tan Hue 1 Primary school, Dong Thap province. H.E Robyn Mudie, the Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, represented the Australian Government at the launching ceremony in Dong Thap.
“The Australian Government is proud to support the installation and handover of a water kiosk that will provide clean drinking water from the tap to teachers and school children at Tan Hue 1 primary school and Tan Hue kindergarten, Tan Hue Commune, Thanh Binh District of Dong Thap province,” Mudie said.
Figure 2: Ribbon cutting to officially launch the system in Dong Thap
Mr Phan Van Phung, Vice Chairman People Committee of Thanh Binh district Dong Thap Province, thanked everyone involved in the mission.
“We would like to sincerely thank the Australian Government, Australian Water Association and the Australian water companies for your support in the installation of this drinking water treatment system in Tan Hue 1 school. The system has addressed the clean water issue that we are facing and helped our community increase access to safe drinking water. We will also ensure the school and operators of the systems have the capacity to manage, operate and use the system efficiently to maintain its optimal function," said Van Phung.
“This project addresses a critical issue facing Vietnam – getting appropriate low cost and easy to maintain technology that can deliver drinking water to remote communes where drinking tap water is not feasible," said Mr Le Hoang Vu, Director of the Centre for Agriculture Services and Rural Clean Water of Dong Thap province, during the launch and handover ceremony.
"Through this project we have learnt many innovative lessons we wish to apply in other locations, most of all that technology and commercial partnerships exist that can provide an affordable source of drinking water to remote communes."
This pilot project opens the door to scaling up in other rural areas of Vietnam.
All of AWA's installations in An Giang and Dong Thap ensure the involvement of women in managing the systems and inclusion of the activities, verification of the treated water using sampling methods, training in the operation and maintenance of technology and customer and community information session to communicate the value of safe drinking water.
More images from the technology demonstration can be found here.