Nearly two years ago, the Hanoi People’s Committee decided to invest 1300 billion dong into environment improvement projects. The budget included the sum of 600 billion dong spent on cleaning the To Lich River to save the river which became the “city’s biggest open waste water sewer”.

 In September 2010, a new media campaign was launched by the Hanoi Department for Natural Resources and the Environment in four wards of districts located on To Lich riverhead, including Nghia Tan, Quan Hoa in Cau Giay districts, Vinh Phuc and Buoi in Ba Dinh districts.

 The households in the four wards were given biological products derived from mineralization and microorganism--the environment friendly products.

 Under the instructions of the Hanoi Department for Natural Resources and the Environment, and the Rainbow International Environment – the manufacturer of the biological products, local residents dissolved two small packs of the product in 20 liters of water and poured down into the sinks, sewerages and home toilets. The biological products when soluble; could help treat the waste water in homes before the waste water goes to the To Lich River.

 The measure proves to be very simple, but it can bring big benefits to the environment and the severely polluted river.

 According to Vu Duc A, Head of the Project Management and Communication Division under the Hanoi Department for Natural Resources and the Environment, the distribution of the biological products will be carried out in a 6-month trial basis. A media campaign has been launched, when the department informed about the program to clean To Lich River on mass media and invited environment companies to participate.

 The products that were sent to the department for consideration must be the products friendly to the environment, with mineralized and microorganism sources and they must be the products recognized by the Ministry Health as meeting the standards for circulation.

 Rainbow’s products can meet the requirements set and they have been chosen for the program.

 The initial results are satisfactory. The water samples taken from different areas on To Lich River, especially in the areas where there are four wards using the biological products, have shown considerable improvement.

 In the areas where there are sewers, the water has been improved. Meanwhile, at other places, the water samples still cannot show satisfactory results, partially because it is not sure if local residents used the products or not. Especially, the water samples taken directly from households show the considerable improvement in the pollution level.

 Local residents in the four wards which joined the program said they are satisfied with the biological products. Vu Duc Nghia, who lives in Nghia Tan ward, said that the biological products have been introduced as environment friendly products, and non-toxic to people’s health.

 “No more stench rising from the sewers and sewage drains in the areas where people live,” Nghia said. “We have decided to continue using the products, because they are really useful, while the prices fit our pockets”.

 Hanoi authorities and local residents have shown their strong determination to take actions to ease the river pollution and return the landscape to the river which is "soft silk strip in the city".

 A said that a similar program will be carried out in other areas of To Lich River. He said Hanoians have every reason to hope that To Lich will have another image in the future, like the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal in HCM City.