Hai Phong's urban drainage infrastructure lags behind the pace of urbanization

Hai Phong City’s People’s Council (HĐND TP. Hải Phòng) has proposed that the city government adjust planning, accelerate key drainage and wastewater projects, and prioritize facilities to increase drainage capacity and help the urban area adapt to climate change.

Urban wastewater treatment deficit

Under the city’s plan through 2025 with a vision to 2050, the eastern part of Hai Phong was expected to host 30 urban wastewater plants and treatment stations. However, only six have been invested in and brought into operation to date.

In operation are the Vinh Niem Wastewater Treatment Plant (capacity 36,000 m3/day and night) and the VSIP Wastewater Plant (9,500 m3/day and night), along with three wastewater treatment stations on Cat Ba Island (total capacity about 9,500 m3/day and night). The Bac Song Cam 1 Wastewater Plant project, part of the Bac Son Ca urban area, remains under investment and has not yet started operations.

In the western area, two urban wastewater plants have been invested. The Ngoc Chau Wastewater Plant (Hai Duong Ward) has only undergone mechanical treatment and not biological treatment, so post-treatment water does not meet discharge standards and cannot be licensed for effluent discharge. The Lo Cuong Wastewater Plant (Tu Minh Ward), part of the city’s former integrated urban development project, has faced years of delays and is not yet operational.

Among the eight plants and stations mentioned, only two are city-level facilities—Vinh Niem and Ngoc Chau—while only Vinh Niem operates to the full standards required for urban wastewater treatment.

Fragmented drainage and wastewater collection

Because drainage and wastewater collection infrastructure across the city remains fragmented—many areas lack separate stormwater and wastewater systems—most residential wastewater after septic tanks continues to be discharged into the common drainage system. In some localities, untreated wastewater is discharged directly into rivers and canals, harming the environment.

Drainage system lacks coordination

Hai Phong is also experiencing frequent localized flooding in key areas, including Thượng Lý Station, Hung Vuong Street (phường Hong Bang, Hong An), and along Ngo Quyền and Le Thanh Nghị streets (phường Le Thanh Nghị), particularly during heavy rainfall or extreme weather.

While flood control attention has increased in recent years, responses remain largely localized rather than forming an integrated, system-wide solution. The existing drainage network is aging and patchworked, with narrow conduits that only handle rainfall below 50mm, which is inconsistent with climate change conditions. Pump stations, canals, and regulating reservoirs are largely long-invested structures with limited maintenance, leading to deterioration and inadequate drainage performance.

In the western area, key pump stations such as Nuoc Than, Cong So, and Thuong Chieu are included in a plan for the Red River River Basin irrigation system through 2020, but have not yet been invested or constructed. Areas including Lac Duc, Do Neo, Song Rua, Co Ngua, Hong Lac, Van Thai, and Kenh Trung still lack proper sewer networks, limiting internal-regional flow regulation.

In the eastern part of the city, the plan includes 33 regulating lakes with a total area of 3,930 ha, but actual implementation has covered only over 74.25 ha. The city-wide lagoon system totals just over 117 ha, far below planning targets, reducing storage and regulation capacity and increasing flood risk. Urbanization also increases concrete coverage and changes drainage basins, affecting sewer heights and basin elevations and contributing to localized flooding.

Accelerating wastewater projects

The People’s Council states that only about 32.22% of urban wastewater is collected and treated in Hai Phong. It also notes that most industrial clusters formed before 2009 have not invested in centralized wastewater treatment systems. Some clusters, such as Long Xuyen (Kinh Mon ward) and Ngo Quyền (Thanh Dong ward), are located within urban areas, and much of their wastewater is not adequately treated but is still discharged into the common system, further stressing the environment.

In addition, there is no centralized sludge treatment facility in the western area. Sludge generated from drainage networks is mostly collected temporarily or transported elsewhere for processing, creating secondary pollution risks if not tightly controlled.

Causes and policy recommendations

According to the People’s Council, the situation is driven by insufficient investment in drainage and wastewater infrastructure aligned with urbanization, with funding largely dependent on ODA. It also cites unclear state management coordination among the Department of Construction, the Department of Agriculture and Environment, and local authorities, with a lack of cross-agency mechanisms.

The Council recommends that the city government adjust drainage and wastewater planning to match the pace of urbanization and climate change, prioritize projects, and urgently complete connections to bring the Lo Cuong Wastewater Plant online while ensuring quality at existing plants.

For large ODA-funded projects—such as the wastewater collection and treatment system in several eastern Hai Duong towns (old scheme) with total investment of 1,498 billion VND, and the East-North development project for climate-resilient urban areas with total investment of over 9,783 billion VND—execution should be strictly on schedule. The city should also prepare a list of ponds not to be filled and continue expanding the lagoon area in line with the plan.

Broader resilience measures

To strengthen flood risk management and connectivity, Hai Phong proposes infrastructure investments, including improvements to water supply and traffic systems to support firefighting and rescue operations, as part of broader urban resilience initiatives.