The water quality at hot spring sites in Taipei has improved slightly, according to the results of the latest round of inspections, and only one site was fined for failing to improve its water quality, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday.
The department conducts monthly inspections between October and February every year of the 56 hot springs registered with the city government, as cooler temperatures prompt more people to visit hot springs facilities and resorts.
A total of 297 random inspections were conducted last month and 464 samples collected for testing, department officials said.
The test results showed 29 samples (6.2 percent) fell below allowable standards — less than 100 colony-forming units per milliliter (CFU/ml) of total bacterial count and less than 6 CFU/ml of Escherichia coli bacteria, Disease Control and Prevention Director Chen Shao-ching (陳少卿) said.
The failure rate was a slight improvement over the results of the tests conducted in October last year, when 9.33 percent of the samples were below standards, the department said.
Huang Ding Hot Spring Resort in Beitou District (北投) was the only site to fail the initial round as well as a follow-up test, and so it was fined, Chen said.
The resort’s water was found to have total bacterial count 2.3 times permissible limits, while its Escherichia coli count was 11 times over the limit, she said.
People should thoroughly wash before entering a hot springs bath, she said.
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