Pilot CWEs launched in one of the poorest communes in rural Vietnam, bringing affordable clean drinking water to 8 villages

In late March, Lien AID was in the Tra Vinh Province of Vietnam to hand over two Community-based Water Social Enterprises (CWEs) to the Da Loc Commune, following the completion of a successful pilot that will benefit more than 15,000 people across 8 villages.

The CWEs consist of bottled water treatment plants that treat contaminated water into clean drinking water, using low-pressure reverse osmosis. Fully funded by Lien AID, the pilot was a collaborative effort with the Provincial Centre for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (PCERWASS) and National Centre for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (NCERWASS).

“The aim of the pilot is to assess the effectiveness of the CWE approach in providing affordable clean drinking water in rural communities in Vietnam. We hope that this model will catalyze an alternative approach to the provision of a water supply in rural Vietnam. Particularly, one that continues to be affordable to small/remote rural communities,” explained Lien AID CEO, Mr. Koh Lian Hock.

As one of the poorest communes in the Tra Vinh province, and inhabited by a high concentration of ethnic Kh’mer, Da Loc has very low access to clean drinking water, with the added problem of high levels of salinity and alkalinity affecting their water sources. Due to rising sea levels, this is a condition common to coastal areas like Da Loc.

Many villagers cannot afford commercially-bottled water and resort to drinking from unsafe water sources, risking their health.

Thach Thi Dan is 30-years-old and lives in Huong Phu B village. Before the community-based water social enterprise was built, her family drank water pumpled from a dug well, which they rudimentarily treated on their own with chemicals such as alum. They also drank rainwater.”

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Both CWEs began operations in April, with the water sold costing a fraction of the price of commercially-produced bottled water sold in the market.

 

To find out more, take a look at our Community Water Enterprise Programme.