This study applied the waterscapes framework to investigate the socio-political contestations associated with water use patterns and community–environment interactions in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In particular, groundwater resources were investigated via a mixed-method study combining water sampling, social surveys, a Groundwater Quality Index (GWQI), and GIS. In total, 33 groundwater samples were collected between June and August 2018, measuring pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, nitrite, nitrates, ammonia, sulfates, aluminum, iron, arsenic, and total coliform. An in-depth interview was conducted with a key stakeholder providing water service to the District, and 100 household surveys were administered via face-to-face interviews with community residents. Despite piped water availability throughout the district, we found that the community still utilizes groundwater for general domestic use. High concentrations of relevant pollutants were detected in the wells, substantially consistent with the respondents complains about the water smells and turbidity. The gastrointestinal disease was a known issue, yet less than a quarter of respondents associated these symptoms with the polluted water resources. Extensive groundwater use implies an economic artifact associated with the recent social experiences of the predominantly migrant worker community. Results from individual water quality measurements were incorporated into a GWQI following the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment approach. The calculated values were subsequently incorporated into GIS to visualize the spatial distributions of the groundwater quality across the study area, which were strongly associated with the results from the large-scale survey. The government of Vietnam has developed an official WQI guideline; however, it only addresses surface water with a different format than the GWQI applied in this study. Our GWQI henceforth contributed a prototype evaluation tool that could be applied in other urban areas of Vietnam to help assess groundwater resource health.

中文翻译：

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越南胡志明市第12区生活用地下水开采水景

本研究应用水景框架来调查与越南胡志明市第 12 区的用水模式和社区-环境相互作用相关的社会政治争论。特别是，通过结合水采样、社会调查、地下水质量指数 (GWQI) 和 GIS 的混合方法研究对地下水资源进行了调查。在 2018 年 6 月至 8 月期间，总共收集了 33 个地下水样本，测量了 pH 值、电导率、总溶解固体、亚硝酸盐、硝酸盐、氨、硫酸盐、铝、铁、砷和总大肠菌群。与为该区提供供水服务的主要利益相关者进行了深入访谈，并通过与社区居民的面对面访谈进行了 100 份家庭调查。尽管整个地区都有自来水，我们发现社区仍然将地下水用于一般家庭用途。在井中检测到高浓度的相关污染物，与受访者对水的气味和浑浊的抱怨基本一致。胃肠道疾病是一个众所周知的问题，但只有不到四分之一的受访者将这些症状与受污染的水资源联系在一起。地下水的广泛使用意味着与以移民工人为主的社区最近的社会经历相关的经济产物。根据加拿大环境部长理事会的方法，将个别水质测量的结果纳入 GWQI。计算值随后被纳入 GIS 以可视化整个研究区域的地下水质量的空间分布，这与大规模调查的结果密切相关。越南政府制定了官方 WQI 指南；然而，它仅处理与本研究中应用的 GWQI 格式不同的地表水。我们的 GWQI 从此贡献了一个原型评估工具，该工具可应用于越南其他城市地区，以帮助评估地下水资源的健康状况。