Việt Nam’s rapid economic growth during the last two decades was accompanied by the formation of numerous industrial zones. However, a substantial part of the manufacturing of goods still takes place in traditional craft villages. These communities adapted quickly to modern production requirements and thereby changed their character from villages into small industrial zones without any adequate consideration of environmental protection and occupational health issues.
Nationwide, about 10 million people or 29% of the rural workforce are working in the more than 2000 craft villages, half of which are located in the Red River Delta economic region. In 2007, the German Federal Ministries of Education and Research and for Economic Cooperation and Development together with Vietnamese authorities identified the Bắc Ninh Province as a model region for investigating the environmental impact of food processing craft villages.
These villages account for 37% of the total water consumption of all craft villages. Their wastewater is characterized by a high content of organic matter and is discharged into rice paddies, rivers, and ponds. This contributes to further eutrophication of water bodies associated with possible changes in redox conditions, which might lead to the mobilization of geogenic arsenic.
The INHAND project focuses on the food processing Craft Village of Đại Lâm – the main product is liquor from cassava and rice. Wastewater from this production and households is currently drained untreated into the surrounding rice fields. The main objective of INHAND is to develop an integrated wastewater management system for Đại Lâm Village including the set-up of a three-step pilot plant aerobic treatment of the wastewater, anaerobic treatment of the waste streams, and a digester drying facility.