Participants in the three-day event focussed their discussions on the supply and treatment of water, the treatment and management of wastewater, emerging contaminants and environmental technology and urban flooding and its health consequences.
Climate change and the water environment, urban water quality management, appropriate technology for water and sanitation and the coastal and marine water environment were also among major topics at this year’s event.
Earlier, the participants took a field trip yesterday to Ecopark, a new urban residential area in Hung Yen Province, and Bat Trang Ceramic Village in Gia Lam District in Hanoi to increase their understanding of each other and the situations of the water environment in those locales.
According to Dr. Tran Thi Viet Nga, Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Engineering at the National University of Civil Engineering, such research on water treatment has not yet become popular in Vietnam, most of it carried out by Vietnamese students studying abroad.
However, it was heartening that more and more Vietnamese scientists had shown interest and increased their participation in this field, she said, adding that the symposium provided a golden opportunity for the scientists to gain experience from their colleagues in the region.
The annual symposium was launched by the Research Centre for Water Environment Technology (RECWET) at the University of Tokyo, Japan in 2003. Through twelve events, it has established itself as a forum for participants to present their latest research results and ideas on water environment issues.
