Price of Kaohsiung water protested

Consumer and environmental groups in Kaohsiung City yesterday lambasted the Taiwan Water Supply Corporation's (TWSC) move to raise water fees, saying that most residents are unsatisfied with the quality of the water.

The TWSC's Seventh District Management Department (第七區管理處) reportedly considered raising water prices in February, making the charge for each unit of tap water in Kaohsiung City NT$14.5 -- much higher than Taipei City's NT$6.8. The current water fee for each unit of tap water in Kaohsiung is NT$9.5.

Deputy manager of the department Hsieh Hsun-huang (謝壎煌) said yesterday that raising water prices was inevitable because the department needs at least NT$15 billion for purchasing treatment facilities to deal with polluted water in southern Taiwan.

At a press conference held in Kaohsiung yesterday, activists of the Consumers Protection Association vowed to fight the proposed increase.

Activists argue that the company should not hold consumers responsible for the its financial losses. Such losses, activists said, should be blamed on poor hiring policies and water loss caused by defective pipes.

"We will not accept the price," said Lo Chih-ming (羅志明), director-general of the association.

Lo, a newly elected legislator, said that residents spend on average NT$1,800 on drinking water every month due to the unsatisfactory quality of Kaohsiung's tap water.

In addition, activists claimed that 48 percent of tap water sampled in April last year in the city did not meet national standards for quality, citing statistics provided by environmental groups.

Lu Ying-chi (呂英奇), secretary-general of the association, told the Taipei Times that poor water quality had become a threat to residents' health -- especially since the discovery of illegal dumping of toxic solvents in the Chishan River (旗山溪) in July, 2000. Lu said most residents of Kaohsiung have complained about the water's chemical odor and use it only for rinsing.

Activists will carry out a demonstration this coming Saturday in front of City Hall. Lu said that the Kaohsiung City Government should listen to consumers' voices and fight for their rights.

Officials of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday that selecting a single month's statistics to determine the quality of the water wasn't fair.

According to the EPA's statistics, in Kaohsiung, 40.8 percent of all water samples taken in April last year did not meet national standards. EPA officials said that most substandard tap water samples contained ammonia and nitrogen that exceeded national standards.

However, the EPA pointed out that the percentage of samples that failed to meet national standards decreased to 5.45 in May, 1.67 in September and zero in October, implying that water quality in the city is now at an acceptable level.