Ho Chi Minh City, with a population of 8.6 million, is Viet Nam’s leading center of economic activity, contributing some 21% of the country’s GDP. Rapid urbanization and population growth have put pressure on the City’s infrastructure. Currently, only 10% of the city's domestic wastewater discharged can be treated by existing wastewater treatment plants. The remaining 90% are discharged untreated directly into the environment (canals, rivers and the sea). Moreover, only 50 to 80% of households are connected to the city’s sewerage system.

Faced with challenges on adequacy (infrastructure), reliability (of sewerage treatment), resource limitation (financial investments) and sustainability (pollution from untreated wastewater), the city needs to build 12 wastewater treatment plants with a total capacity of 3.1 million m3/d to augment existing infrastructure that only covers 9% of the city's requirements.