What does current Vietnamese law say about wastewater management?

1. General requirements for wastewater management

According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 72 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, general requirements on wastewater management are stipulated as follows:

• Wastewater must be collected and treated to meet environmental technical standards before being discharged into receiving sources;
• Wastewater is encouraged to be reused when it meets the requirements of environmental protection and water use purposes;
• Wastewater containing hazardous environmental parameters exceeding prescribed thresholds must be managed according to regulations on hazardous waste management;
• The discharge of treated wastewater into the environment must be managed in accordance with the provisions of the law on environmental protection, in accordance with the carrying capacity of the receiving environment.

2. Regulations on wastewater management

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 3 of Decree 45/2022/ND-CP, wastewater discharge into the environment is the act of individuals and organizations discharging wastewater into the soil, groundwater, surface water, and seawater environment inside and outside establishments, concentrated production, business, and service areas.

Pursuant to Section 5, Chapter VI of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, regulations on wastewater management include:

3. Wastewater collection and treatment

Pursuant to Article 86 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, regulations on wastewater collection and treatment are as follows:

- New urban areas, concentrated residential areas; production, business, service establishments, concentrated production, business, service areas, and industrial clusters must have a wastewater collection and treatment system separate from the rainwater drainage system, except for special cases prescribed by the Government.

- Management of wastewater in urban and concentrated residential areas is regulated as follows:

• Domestic wastewater generated from organizations and households must be collected and connected to the wastewater collection and treatment system;
• Wastewater generated from production, business and service activities in urban areas must be collected and preliminarily treated before being connected to the urban wastewater collection and treatment system; wastewater after preliminarily treatment must meet the regulations of urban areas, concentrated residential areas or regulations of local authorities;
• Wastewater generated from production, business and service activities in urban areas without centralized wastewater treatment facilities must be collected and treated to meet environmental protection requirements before being discharged into receiving sources.

- Wastewater management from production, business and service activities is regulated as follows:

• Wastewater from production, business and service establishments in concentrated production, business and service areas and industrial clusters must be collected and preliminarily treated before being connected to the industrial wastewater collection and treatment system according to the requirements of the investor in the construction of concentrated production, business and service areas and industrial clusters, ensuring that wastewater must be treated to meet environmental protection requirements;
• Wastewater from production, business and service establishments located outside urban areas, concentrated residential areas, concentrated production, business and service areas, and industrial clusters that cannot be connected to the wastewater collection and treatment system must be collected and treated to meet environmental protection requirements before being discharged into receiving sources.

- Domestic wastewater generated from organizations and households in non-concentrated residential areas must be collected and treated on-site to meet environmental protection requirements before being discharged into receiving sources.

- The People's Committee at provincial level has the following responsibilities:

• Investing and encouraging investment in the construction of urban wastewater collection and treatment systems and concentrated residential areas in the area under the investment responsibility of the State according to the provisions of law;
• Issue a roadmap for land allocation, investment or investment incentives to build urban wastewater collection and treatment systems and concentrated residential areas in cases where there is no wastewater collection and treatment system;
• Issue a roadmap and support policies for organizations and households in urban areas and concentrated residential areas to build works and install on-site wastewater treatment equipment that meet environmental protection requirements before discharging into receiving sources in cases where it is not possible to arrange land funds to build wastewater collection and treatment systems in urban areas and concentrated residential areas that were formed before the effective date of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020;
• Issue a roadmap for implementation and policies to support the collection and on-site treatment of domestic wastewater generated by organizations and households in non-concentrated residential areas.

- The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment provides guidance on technology and techniques for on-site wastewater treatment.

- The Minister of Construction provides guidance on technical infrastructure works for collecting and draining wastewater in urban areas and concentrated residential areas as prescribed in Article 86 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020.

4. Wastewater treatment system:

Pursuant to Article 87 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, regulations on wastewater treatment systems are as follows:

- Wastewater treatment system must ensure the following requirements:

• Technology suitable for the type and characteristics of wastewater to be treated;
• The capacity of the water treatment system must be suitable for the maximum amount of wastewater generated;
• Wastewater treatment meets environmental protection requirements;
• Operate wastewater treatment facilities according to technical procedures;
• There must be a plan to prevent and respond to environmental incidents in the wastewater treatment system; the discharge point must have clear coordinates, signs and symbols, convenient for inspection and monitoring of discharge.

- Sludge from wastewater treatment systems must be managed according to regulations of law on solid waste management; sludge containing hazardous elements exceeding prescribed thresholds must be managed according to regulations of law on hazardous waste management.