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The source called “La Vie”

The source of pure water is everywhere across the country.

Long An, one of the nine provinces of the Mekong Delta, divides the country from east to west like a thin water-soaked sponge. Water is everywhere. both on the surface, criss-crossed by a huge network of large and small rivers and underground, the source of a very pure water called La Vie .

AN UNDERGROUND STORY

As it travels slowly from Cambodia, it never mixes with water closer to the surface…La Vie is an exception in a country where waters are not known for their quality. It has been drawn from a depth of over 400 metresin a zone which is protected naturally from the incursion of salt from the sea by many micro layers of sand and impermeable clay.

After its long, leisurely journey through the depths, passing through sandstone and compacted sands which dissolve slightly, the water emerges with a low mineral content and is light and clear, without the slightest trace of limestone deposits, but bursting with bicarbonate and sodium. La Vie. with its subtle taste, enjoys wide popularity and is suitable for everything from babies’ bottles to tea kettles and tasty dishes supplemented with nuoc mam, the fish sauce that is an essential ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine. Water here is part of everything .

An aerial view of South Vietnam shows a chequerboard of land and water, mingled in every form that the human imagination and nature combined can conceive: small deltas, canals, watercourses, rice paddies. The people who live there sometimes refer to the country as dât nuoc. land-water. La Vie is buried in the deep layers of the Delta, completely sheltered from the irrigation of the paddy fields on the plains, which consume particularly large quantities of water. Its flow is endless, and there is no risk of the spring lessening or running completely dry. The main threat to its environment comes from increased industrialisation in Long An Province. Fortunately, the government, aware of the risk, has decided to limit the number of companies being set up close to La Vie. Furthermore, industrial discharges are strictly monitored within a radius of several dozen kilometres around the sites where the wells are sunk.

Photography by Sandrine Alouf