As the turbidity of Taipei’s water sources yesterday rose under the influence of heavy rain brought by Typhoon Megi, the Taipei Water Department said it has turned off water supplies to the greater Taipei area to prevent murky tap water from being supplied, affecting about 190,000 homes.
The department provides water to 3.94 million people in Taipei and parts of New Taipei City.
Taipei Water Department Commissioner Chen Chin-hsiang (陳錦祥) said that upstream turbidity levels of the Sindian River (新店溪), from which the department’s water purification plants tap water, underwent a surge due to unexpectedly heavy precipitation.
Photo: CNA
Upstream turbidity levels of the river were 1,800 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) at 12:30pm yesterday, but soared past 12,000 NTU at 1:30pm and at one point reached 12,900 NTU, prompting the department to completely suspend the supply of water to Taipei, as well as New Taipei City’s Sanchong (三重), Jhonghe (中和), Yonghe (永和), Sindian (新店) and Sijhih (汐止) districts at 4pm.
Chen said that an estimated 190,000 households in areas closest to the end of water pipelines were affected by the suspension, including homes in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), in the mountainous areas of Neihu District (內湖) and those in the Tianmu (天母) and Muzha (木柵) areas.
Sindian, Jhonghe, Yonghe and Sijhih residents were also among the first to be affected by the water stoppage, he said.
Homes that suffered water supply interruptions were mostly one-story buildings or buildings without water storage tanks, he said.
If heavy rainfall persists, people living in buildings with water storage tanks are expected to run out of tap water at between 4am and 4pm today, he said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source