On the afternoon of 8/7, a torrent of black wastewater flowed from a large sewer onto Sam Son beach, adjacent to a bathing area for tourists. Many people recorded and shared images of the incident on social media, drawing significant attention as the locality is in the peak season for beach tourism.

On 9/7, Trinh Tien Dung, Chairman of Sam Son Ward People's Committee, stated that, according to design, wastewater is pumped to a treatment plant before discharge. However, intense rainfall over a short period overloaded the pumping system, preventing the timely collection of wastewater, which then overflowed onto the beach. By that evening, authorities had resolved the issue.

To prevent recurrence, Sam Son ward is implementing a project to repair and upgrade four collection pits along the coastal road. This aims to increase wastewater collection capacity and ensure the system operates stably during heavy rains.

Wastewater discharge into the sea has been a long-standing issue in Sam Son. Photo: *Le Hoang*.

The issue of coastal wastewater in Sam Son has persisted for many years. From 2016-2017, numerous drainage pipes along Ho Xuan Huong street frequently discharged foul-smelling black water onto the beach, negatively impacting tourism activities.

To address this, Thanh Hoa province invested approximately 190 billion dong to construct three pumping stations and a wastewater collection system. All wastewater and rainwater are now pumped to a biological treatment lake before being discharged into the Do River, rather than flowing directly into the sea.

Sam Son is one of the major coastal tourist destinations in the North. It features a beach approximately 9 km long, stretching from the foot of Truong Le mountain to the Quang Cu area, attracting millions of visitors each summer.

Le Hoang