Water pollution at the Da River water plant. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

Shares of the Vinaconex Water Supply Joint Stock Company (Viwasupco) fell sharply on Thursday after a series of reports about contaminated tap water, which cut VND127 billion (US$5.4 million) from the company’s market capitalisation in one day.

Viwasupco shares (VCW) closed Thursday down 4.9 per cent, trading at VND33,000 per share, meaning that each share dropped VND1,700.

With 75 shares circulating on the market, VCW lost VND127.5 billion in market capitalisation value.

In the past 12 trading days, VCW has declined a total of 5.7 per cent, which means that each share has lost VND2,000.

In the first half of this year, VCW had impressive business results. The company achieved revenue of nearly VND264 billion and pre-tax profit of VND133 billion.

In 2018, VCW’s revenue reached VND469 billion, up 13.3 per cent year-on-year, while pre-tax profit touched more than VND230 billion.

The company provides 300,000 cubic meters per day for the entire southwestern part of Ha Noi, including Thanh Xuan, Hoang Mai, Cau Giay, Ha Dong and several downtown districts.

But for a week now, concerns have been raised by residents over a pungent smell coming from their tap water.

Many people residing in the districts of Ha Dong, Hoang Mai, Nam Tu Liem and Thanh Xuan have complained that their tap water smelled of chemicals and burned plastic since October 8.

The foul odour has lingered for days, prompting residents to stop using the water for cooking and drinking. Some urban areas in the city even bought bottled water for their residents.

A truck was seen dumping used oil into a mountain creek in Phu Minh Commune, Ky Son District of Hoa Binh Province – a northwestern neighbour of Ha Noi on Tuesday last week, the Viet Nam Environment Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said Monday.

The creek is on an upstream section of the Da River, the biggest branch of the Red River, which supplies water to VCW's water tanks.

Tests of the polluted water found high levels of styrene.

While locals voiced concerns over the quality of the foul tap water, the municipal agencies and VCW could not offer any solutions or explanation to the residents.

VCW currently has two large shareholders, Gelex Energy One Member Limited Liability Company, which owns 60.46 per cent and Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Joint Stock Company (REE), which owns 35.95 per cent. — VNS