“We should organize a workshop on the feasibility study early in August and expect loans for this project to be ready sometime next year,” said by Putu M. Kamayana, deputy country director of ADB in Vietnamy.

He said the feasibility study would be completed by October and estimated total investment capital between US$200 million and US$300 million over four years of construction. Putu added that ADB Vietnam was cooperating with Saigon Water Corporation (Sawaco) to accelerate procedures, such as engineering designs, consulting and construction plans, to be ready for final approval from the Government and ADB’s Board of Directors before the middle of next year.

ADB will mobilize the loans for the project’s investment capital from Japan and Korea among other countries, Putu said. He expected construction would begin in 2013.

According to Sawaco, the city supplies 1.2 million cubic meters of tap water a day but 40% of it is wasted because of old pipes that leak. Sawaco said that the lost water cost the corporation at least US$75,000 each day.

Tran Dinh Phu, general director of Sawaco, said that the city needed to upgrade 3,300 kilometers of old pipes to avoid the waste and noted that Sawaco would try to cut the amount of wasted water in half by 2025.

Phu said the tap water supplier was carrying out a US$45 million project financially supported by the World Bank to reduce the loss of water by replacing old pipes in several inner-city districts.