58 years of Thu Duc Water Plant: The heart of Ho Chi Minh City's water supply

If we compare water to blood that nourishes the body of this city, Thu Duc Water Plant is the heart that pumps blood to every cell.

Thu Duc Water Plant with 58 years of mission to serve the people of Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: MT

58 years of establishment, although many other factories have joined, Thu Duc Water Plant still plays an important role, providing more than 50% of clean water for Ho Chi Minh City residents.

Thu Duc Water Plant is persistent and dedicated to serving

Officially put into operation on December 12, 1966, Thu Duc Water Plant was then the most modern water treatment facility in Southeast Asia with an initial capacity of 450,000 m³/day, providing more than 90% of clean water for Saigon residents at that time.

After many investments in expansion and upgrading, Thu Duc Water Plant has now reached its maximum capacity of 750,000 m³/day. At the same time, it has received an additional 100,000 m³/day from Binh An Water Supply Company. With this total capacity, the plant meets nearly 50% of Ho Chi Minh City's clean water needs.

This heart also plays an extremely important role as the center for regulating pressure and output for the entire city's water supply network. During peak hours or when there are problems at other factories, the factory plays the role of "big brother" by ensuring output compensation and maintaining a continuous water source.

Thu Duc Water Plant at night - Photo: MT

Back to history, early in the morning of April 30, 1975, before our troops entered the Presidential Palace of the Saigon government, at the Dong Nai River Water Production Department, the red flag with a yellow star was flying on the roof of the factory. Workers organized themselves to manage and operate the factory so that it would not be interrupted.

That afternoon, the Military Administration came to take over the factory. The history of the nation turned a new page, the factory continued to operate continuously, providing water for the city and surrounding areas to start building a new life.

In 1979, Thu Duc Water Production Department was renamed Thu Duc Water Plant until today.

Right after the liberation of the South, we stood before a factory with modern facilities and technology and large production scale.

And with the extremely important political task of maintaining water production to serve the people, the factory staff has set forth the motto "Using all available capabilities in terms of people, machinery, equipment and materials, proactively and creatively organizing and managing to maintain production in any circumstance and ensure a continuous supply of clean water".

Currently, the management scope of the factory includes the river water pumping station in Hoa An commune, Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province, the water treatment plant and the clean water pumping station in Thu Duc. And finally, two pipelines to transmit river water from Hoa An pumping station to Thu Duc, a part of the water pipeline to bring clean water into the city.

Hoa An pumping station, the water intake point of Thu Duc Water Plant - Photo: MT

Closed process, ensuring safe clean water source

From the level 1 pumping station in Hoa An, Dong Nai river water flows through the project into 3 water collection tunnels, through concrete pipes leading water into the pumping tunnel and into the raw water transmission pipe to Thu Duc Water Plant.

The water is then led into the pipe system to the ditches and mixed with colloidal agents to precipitate the substances in the water.

Raw water continues to be led through settling tanks before being treated through the chlorination area. This water sample is then tested, if it meets the quality standards, it will be pumped into the water supply network of the companies before being supplied to the people for use.

At this treatment plant there is a laboratory where water samples from the river system in Ho Chi Minh City are taken daily to measure the quality of raw water.

If the water source shows signs of abnormality, it will be reported to temporarily stop taking. In addition, the water treatment in the factory will be monitored online through the information technology system. When the water quality is abnormal beyond the allowable threshold, the system will alert the monitoring staff to alert the stages to stop supplying water to the outside.

Protecting the raw water intake area at Hoa An pumping station - Photo: MT

Regarding the output water standards when supplying to people, Sawaco said that according to the requirements, the water source before supplying to people must meet the standards of the Ministry of Health. The company always requires the output water source to be higher than this standard, for example, the turbidity allowed by the Ministry of Health is at the threshold of 2 NTU but the company requires it to reach 0.5 NTU...

The content of manganese and iron must be 10 times lower than required to minimize sedimentation on the pipeline, affecting water quality. In addition, many other standards are monitored by a 24/7 online system.

With many efforts from the leadership periods, Thu Duc Water Plant is the largest plant in the country in terms of scale and capacity, the main source of clean water serving the city's residents.

Not stopping with the existing results, to meet the demand for water use and urban development, along with the development of the city's water supply system, the factory is constantly upgraded and expanded to increase processing capacity. This place is considered the "heart" of the water industry in Ho Chi Minh City.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/58-nam-nha-may-nuoc-thu-duc-trai-tim-cap-nuoc-tp-hcm-20241212164940546.htm