Page 13 - AW MayJune 19

WORLD NEWS

Japanese technology will help clean

Hanoi’s To Lich River

anoi authorities have begun a project to clean a tackle the source of pollution that’s been producing the
Hsection of the capital’s To Lich River, according to VN To Lich River’s stench.”
Express International. They have installed nanotechnology Nghiem Vu Khai, vice chairman of the Vietnam Union
equipment in a 300m section of the severely polluted river, of Science and Technology Associations, said the nano-
which is expected to start reducing the stench within three bioreactor technology has already been used successfully
days and decompose waste and mud at the bottom in in a lake in the northern port city of Hai Phong, near Hanoi.
two months. Its use in cleaning a section of the To Lich River would be
The nano-bioreactor technology, provided by Japan, the first in a chain of activities to clean rivers and lakes in
has also been used in the West Lake, the largest of the Hanoi, and potentially in other places as well.
city’s lakes. But he stressed that nano-bioreactor technology is not
Experts and workers installed water treatment devices something that would keep the environment clean forever,
in the bed of the To Lich in the section between the Buoi- and there needs to be a general solution for treating
Hoang Quoc Viet intersection and Cau Giay District. Five garbage and wastewater at source.
such devices were seen on the first day. The Japanese The efforts to clean the To Lich River and the West
team said they will add more devices later, but has not Lake began after a Japanese delegation headed by
revealed how many would be used. Yamamura met Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last
According to one of the experts, the devices create month and offered to provide their bionanotechnology
and diffuse nano-gas streams into the surrounding water equipment for free.
to stimulate microorganisms, which would release oxygen, The To Lich used to be a branch of the Red River and
decompose the mud in the riverbed and make the water connected to the West Lake. It was however disconnected
cleaner. from both after the French filled a section of the river as
The project’s cost, defrayed by the Japanese, has yet part of a replanning of Hanoi in 1889. It runs around 14 km
to be announced. through the downtown districts of Thanh Xuan, Hoang Mai
Speaking at the project launch, Dr Tadashi Yamamura, and Thanh Tri.
chairman of Japan’s Trade-Environment Promotion Over 200 sewage outlets empty into the river 150,000
Organization, which provided the equipment, said the cubic meters of untreated household wastewater every
technology has already proved successful in many rivers day, according to the city Department of Natural
in Japan, the US and China. “Japan’s bio-nanotechnology Resources and Environment. Its downstream is also polluted
fully decomposes the layer of mud at the bottom without by industrial wastewater from factories. AW
the need for mechanical dredging, and would radically

Singapore’s PUB takes over Tuaspring

Desalination Plant

ingapore’s national water utility PUB has taken over to safeguard Singapore’s water security.
Sthe ownership of the Tuaspring desalination plant from On 17 April 2019, PUB had issued a 30-day notice to
financially troubled environmental services company Tuaspring to terminate the Water Purchase Agreement
Hyflux Ltd after a notice issued in April. (WPA) and take over the plant. AW
PUB said in a statement that it has taken over Tuaspring

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