National assessments on wastewater use in agriculture and an emerging typology: the Vietnam case study.

Abstract

The use of urban wastewater in agriculture is a common practice for diverse reasons, not least of which are water scarcity, fertiliser value, and lack of an alternative source of water. It is necessary to have a clear understanding of wastewater's importance and significance in terms of extent, agricultural production, and livelihood impacts before appropriate policies, strategies and guidelines for its use in an integrated water management framework are developed. The Vietnam nationwide assessment was the pioneer in a series of such assessments being undertaken by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Findings indicate that 75% of domestic wastewater in large cities and 45% in smaller cities are discharged into sewers. Wastewater is used for agriculture or aquaculture in 93% of the cities. On an average wastewater is used in at least 2% of the agricultural land around most cities, predominantly to grow rice. The nationwide total of such irrigation is conservatively estimated at around 9,000 ha. Wastewater aquaculture is carried out in natural ponds which serve the dual purpose of inundation control and as collection sinks for city wastewater. Wastewater agriculture provides a primary or secondary source of income to 1% of the urban population. The corresponding figure for wastewater aquaculture is 0.1%. Factors that influence the use of wastewater in non water-short regions have emerged, showing a possible pattern of wastewater use under these conditions. A key result from this study is the need for a typology that effectively captures all these characteristics, as a prerequisite for a global assessment.

Epidemiology and aetiology of diarrhoeal diseases in adults engaged in wastewater‐fed agriculture and aquaculture in Hanoi, Vietnam

“…1999) and in developing nations like Mexico, Pakistan and Vietnam, where wastewater has been commonly used for decades (Siebe & Cifuentes 1995; van der Hoek et al. 2002; Raschid‐Sally et al. 2004).…”

The role and place of global surveys for assessing wastewater irrigation

“…For instance in Vietnam, wastewater from Hanoi and other cities along the Red River Delta is used in this way (Trang et al 2007a, b;Raschid-Sally et al 2004). Sometimes, in the dry season and at tail-ends of irrigation schemes, wastewater may be the only water flowing in the canals, examples are available from Haroonabad, Pakistan and Hyderabad, India (Ensink et al 2006).…”

Institutional aspects of integrating irrigation into urban wastewater management: the case of Hanoi, Vietnam

“…That this river water is in fact (diluted) wastewater might be beyond their scope.). With regard to wastewater management, responsibilities are scattered among different departments, no department is fully responsible for (peri-) urban wastewater management (see also Raschid-Sally et al, 2004). Department officials in Hanoi hardly knew about the policies and responsibilities of other departments that are recognized as stakeholders of urban wastewater management and agriculture by Luan and Minh (2005).…”