Residents in some Hanoi’s districts have voiced concern over strange smell of tap water and the supplier, the Da River Water Company, said the company is testing water samples to find out the cause, local media reported.

Residents in some Hanoi districts have voiced concern over a strange smell of tap water. Photo: Tat Dinh

Vu Hien, who is living in Nam Tu Liem district, said since October 10 afternoon, she had noticed a very strong smell from tap water. At first, her family thought the smell would go away after a while but they later found out that other household in the apartment block suffer from the same problem.

"Since we haven't heard of any warning from the authorities, we do not dare to use to the tap water but bottled water bought from the stores instead," Hien said.

Tran Minh Hoang, a resident in Ha Dong district, also has to buy bottled water for family use because of the same problem. Hoang said the smell worsened after the water is boiled or mixed with other ingredients.

Many other households in residential areas of Thanh Xuan, Linh Dam, Dai Kim, Kim Van – Kim Lu, Hoai Duc have also reported about the weird smell in tap water.

Nguyen Huu Toi, director of Viwaco, the water supplier for southern Hanoi, said his firm has asked the Preventive Medicine Center to test the water after receiving the reports.

Viwaco also sent an official document to Da River Water Company and other agencies seeking the answer to the issue, Toi added.

"Environmental and economic police are investigating the case. We haven't received feedback from the Da River Water Company yet," the director said.

Deputy General Director of Da River Water Company Vu Duc Toan affirmed that the company is operating normally the process of "ensuring water quality in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s standards".

Toan cited that his company provides 300,000 cubic meters of water per day for many districts in Hanoi city.

The company has been working with an independent unit to check the water quality, Toan said, adding that the interdisciplinary inspection team expected to release the results after seven days of working.

Currently, the strange smell still persists.