Connection of water drainage system of urban areas and residential areas in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 6 of the Circular 15/2021/TT-BXD (takes effect from 10/02/2022) stipulating connection of water drainage system of urban areas and residential areas in Vietnam as follows:

1. Connection of water drainage system:

a) Prior to implementing connection agreement, a drainage entity is responsible for examining drainage capacity of existing water drainage system; the construction of wastewater collection and drainage structures must not affect drainage capacity of existing areas;

b) For a discharging household located within the vicinity of common drainage system, the drainage entity must provide at least one connection point for both rainwater and wastewater. For a discharging household located within the vicinity of a separate water drainage system, the discharging entity must provide at least one connection point leading to wastewater discharge gate and at least one connection point leading to rainwater discharge gate;

c) Elevation of connection points at connectors must be lower than that of structures where discharging households are located. If connection points were already installed at the time of construction, project developers must respect the floor elevation of the existing connectors, guarantee slopes, and prevent wastewater from flowing back into structures where discharging households are located;

d) If, either by structural conditions or geography, elevation of wastewater discharge location in a structure where the discharging household is located is lower than that of the connector, the drainage entity shall instruct the household to adopt rectifying measures so that wastewater produced by the household is connected to the wastewater drainage system in a manner satisfying technical requirements;

e) Connectors must be fixed at the connection point, stable, safe, and convenient in order to allow inspection, supervision, maintenance, and leaking of wastewater.

2. Requirements for connection of water drainage system:

a) In urban areas and residential areas that have separate water drainage systems and concentrated urban wastewater treatment plants, domestic wastewater of discharging households shall be directly connected to connectors. When upgrading or renovating common water drainage systems into separate water drainage systems, owners of water drainage structures must rely on current conditions and water drainage requirements of the areas where the upgrade and renovation take place to decide on retention of septic tanks;

b) Wastewater drainage gates of discharging households must be connected with connectors or other wastewater drainage structures if connectors are absent. Combined sewer overflows of discharging households must be connected to connectors for rainwater, canals, channels, or local combined sewer overflows;

c) Untreated wastewater must be connected to collection sewers of water drainage system and prevented from permeating the ground or seeping into other water sources;

d) Wastewater of manufacturing, business, service facilities in urban areas and residential areas must be preliminarily collected and treated in a manner satisfactory to regulations of urban areas or local governments prior to being connected to wastewater collection and drainage structure;

c) Treated wastewater of manufacturing, business, service facilities in urban areas and residential areas must meet environmental technical regulations or environmental protection requirements depending on types of wastewater prior to being connected to wastewater connection and drainage structure.

Best regards!