The popular Central Highlands city of Da Lat may run out of clean water in the next 10 years, according to a local official.
Tuoi Tre reports that Nguyen Ngoc Phuc, director of the Lam Dong Department of Natural Resources and Environment, shared this frightening possibility at a provincial People's Council meeting last week. Da Lat is the capital of Lam Dong province.
Phuc discussed worsening pollution in Dankia-Suoi Vang Lake, which provides fresh water for all of Da Lat's roughly 50,000 residents. The reservoir is the largest man-made lake in the province, containing around 20 million cubic meters of water.
Currently the water is safe for use since it is treated by a local company, but Phuc warned that current trends mean this could change in just 10 years, leaving the surrounding area without usable water.
Growing tourism and agricultural activities upstream from the reservoir and other lakes in the area are responsible for much of the worsening pollution, the news source shares.
Nguyen Thi Le, one of Da Lat's representatives in the National Assembly, said at the meeting that the large-scale construction of unplanned greenhouses has created excessive levels of heavy metals and dangerous microorganisms in Dankia-Suoi Van.
The levels of these toxins are 1.5-2 times above the allowed limit, Le told the newspaper.
According to Phuc, this water pollution could impact tourism and agricultural production in an area spanning 1,700 hectares around the lake. Tuoi Tre adds that workers can be seen clearing garbage from the lake throughout the day.
The Nuclear Research Institute of Da Lat has found that the lake's water contains E. coli amounts that are 12 times higher than the acceptable limit of this bacteria.
As a result the Lam Dong Water Company (LAWACO), which is responsible for treating the lake's water, has to use 10 times more chemicals during this process than it did a decade ago in order to produce usable water.
