Taipei residents left high and dry by lack of water

Water service may be restored by mid-afternoon today for residents of Peitou, Shihlin, and parts of Tienmu, which have been without water since midnight Thursday, Taipei city officials said yesterday.

The stoppage was scheduled to last 48 hours; an estimated 400,000 residents have been affected by the halted service.

Tsay Huel-sheng (蔡輝昇), director-general of Taipei Water Department (台北自來水事業處), told the Taipei Times yesterday that since Thursday night the department has mobilized 135 people in an around-the-clock effort to restore the water supply.

The problem reportedly resulted from work done by the Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油), which has been laying oil pipelines along the Keelung River.

Carelessness allegedly caused a break in the water main located next to the Children's Entertainment Center in Yuanshan, Shihlin district.

"It took us more than 10 hours to dig up the section and hoist the pipe. Now we're working on the welding of the main which is 2m in diameter," Tsay said.

Tsay said the city has commissioned the Taipei Civil Engineers' Association (台北土木技師工會) to find out who is at fault for the break. Tsay said that those found responsible would be held financially liable.

To prevent further damage, the city on Wednesday cut off water for two days to conduct inspections and repairs.

As well as areas in northern Taipei, 14 restrooms along the MRT Tamsui line were also closed.

Ming Jen (明仁), public works director at the Cheng Hsin General Hospital (振興醫院) in Tienmu, said the past 20 hours have been hard for the hospital.

"We have had to impose water rationing because our water storage capacity is 1,500 tonnes per day, and we've already used 800 tonnes up to this morning," he said.

Water is mostly used by operating rooms, intensive care units, the dialysis center and the dentistry department, he said.

"Although we asked the city to deliver 60 tonnes of water today, we're still very worried about tomorrow. We'll be in deep trouble if the water doesn't come back on," he said.

Another hospital in Tienmu, Veterans' General Hospital (榮民總醫院), seemed to be faring somewhat better.

Pan Po-hao (潘博豪), speaking on behalf of the hospital, said it has guidelines to follow for unusual circumstances such as discontinued water service.

"When we're having a two- or three-day water stoppage like this one, we stop adding water to the fish pond and don't water the plants. We give water to patients only during meals and when they need to shower. Water is also released to areas of the hospital when it is absolutely necessary," he said.

According to Pan, the hospital has a water storage capacity of 10,000 tonnes, which can last for about two or three days if used properly.

While the city is considering compensation from Chinese Petroleum, Hanson Chiang (程仁宏), chairman of the Consumers' Foundation (消費者文教基金會), said the foundation may consider a suit if necessary.

"We don't rule out the possibility of asking for compensation from the city government should consumers whose privileges are violated during the incident come to us," he said.