To prevent contaminated water from spreading illness, the Taipei City Government yesterday announced it is shutting down all of its drinking fountains.
"We have decided to close down all drinking fountains, about 1,800 of them, in areas such as MRT stations, schools and parks, in order to prevent people from getting sick from contaminated water," said Hsu Pei-chung (許培中), deputy director at the Taipei Water Department.
Since Wednesday, more than 300 residents in areas such as Wanhua's Chung-shu apartment complex as well as Sanchung and Panchiao in Taipei County have complained of diarrhea and vomiting. Based on the Taipei Water Department's preliminary inspection on Friday, leaky pipes have been the leading cause of contaminated water supplies.
The Department of Health had determined that colon bacillus was responsible for the diarrhea and vomiting experienced by the 76 residents at Sanchung's Shenyang residential compound.
Test results for a water sample taken from Wanhua's Chung-shu residential compound will be known later today.
At a press conference yesterday, Taipei City Deputy Mayor Ou Chin-der (歐晉德) urged the public to remain calm, stating that the number of diarrhea and vomiting complaints has not increased.
"As of [yesterday], of the 349 people who reported symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting, only 30 are still being treated; the rest are fine now," Ou said.
"The situation is now under control."
"Most of the diarrhea and vomiting cases were reported in apartment complexes that are more than 30 years old, where septic tanks and tanks for clean water are often only separated by a wall," Ou said. "This allows the water supplies to be easily contaminated."
According to Ou, there are 23 such residential compounds spread across the Chungcheng, Hsinyi, Tatong, Chungshan and Wanhua districts.
Taipei City government spokesman Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said that starting today, the city government would send out teams to these compounds to inspect water supply lines, aqueducts and cisterns to ensure the water supply is not contaminated.
Also yesterday, the Control Yuan agreed to TSU demands to examine whether the Taipei City Government bears any responsibility for cases of people becoming ill as a result of water-rationing measures.
Control Yuan director of public relations Chang Yi (
Residents concerned about their tap water should contact the Taipei Water Department at (02) 8733-5678 for a water quality test. Residents experiencing diarrhea and vomiting should contact the Bureau of Health at (02) 2720-5258.
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