An underground sewer is being constructed beneath the To Lich River to lead wastewater to a treatment plant project.
As VnExpress reports, on May 18, the Hanoi People’s Committee held a groundbreaking ceremony for a network of sewers in the vicinity of the To Lich River as part of a major effort to improve the condition of the waterway.
The system will span 21 kilometers, 11 of which will run below the river, from Hoang Quoc Viet Street in Cau Giay District to Quang Bridge in Thanh Tri District. The project is expected to be completed after four years, with the deepest point reaching 19 meters underneath the surface.
According to Nguyen Van Hung, director of the project management board, the team decided to base the pipes under the river itself instead of the nearby street to minimize disruption of existing road infrastructure. The digging will be carried out through a pipe jacking method, undertaken by a Japanese contractor over 48 months.
Once finished, the sewer system will channel wastewater to the Yen Xa Treatment Plant, which is currently four years into construction. Yen Xa is designed to process wastewater from the To Lich and Lu rivers, as well as the Ha Dong new residential area, to revive the pitch-black, foul-smelling To Lich River.
The river stretches 14 kilometers from Nghia Do Ward in Cau Giay toward southern Hanoi and then merges with the Nhue River. The Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment estimates that the To Lich has to handle around 150,000 cubic meters of untreated household waste, which accumulates over time, killing marine creatures and making the local air hard to endure.
A year ago, a team of environmental experts from Japan conducted a project to clean up the river water using bio-nanotechnology, showing some initial positive results. However, it was also involved in some controversy.
[Photo via Vietnammoi]
