The Taipei Water Department has announced a new standard operating procedure for taking water from purification plants. When raw water turbidity exceeds 6,000 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), less water will be siphoned and if it exceeds 12,000 NTU, no water will be siphoned.
Following this procedure, it would seem that the resulting suspension of the water supply is not the department’s responsibility.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was right when he said that there is no such thing as “best,” there is only “better.” Could it really be that the department has no plans for dealing with spikes in raw water turbidity?
If turbidity in the Nanshi River (南勢溪) remains high following a typhoon, consideration should be given to the necessity of transporting water from the Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) to the Jhihtan Water Purification Plant. The cost of this would be NT$3 billion (US$91.2 million); not a small amount. However, would it be worth it if it was to guarantee a stable water supply to the greater Taipei area?
Another method would be to increase the number of distribution reservoirs and collect large volumes of water prior to a typhoon. If necessary, the water intake could then be temporarily suspended without affecting the water supply. Currently, if the water intake is suspended for one to six hours, restarting the water supply takes three hours, a sign of the extreme shortage of water storage.
During typhoons, the government asks the public to store water for backup purposes and the new water usage plan would require water storage space for three days or more. Nevertheless, the water purification plants in the nation’s capital cannot even handle a six-hour suspension of water intake.
The department is too reliant on the Sindian River (新店溪) for raw water and it should consider using groundwater as a backup.
During the 1970s, subsidence was a major problem in the Taipei area as a result of excessive groundwater use, but with the completion of the Feitsui Reservoir and groundwater controls, subsidence has been brought under control. Groundwater levels are rising and are even too high in some places, so that construction companies have to lower the water level for their projects. If, during a typhoon, surface water can no longer be used, perhaps it would be worth considering the use of groundwater.
Furthermore, depending on flood protection measures downstream from the Feitsui Reservoir and if allowed by the operating rule curve, it would be possible to release water to dilute the turbidity of the raw water. The main goal of the program for improving the water supply in New Taipei City’s Banciao (板橋) and Sindian (新店) districts is to allow these two districts to use Taipei water, but the question is if this would work in reverse if the department is in urgent need of water.
While the water supply from the Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) also comes under pressure during typhoons, the main concern and goal should be to avoid suspending the water supply.
The available water purification technology should be modernized and water treatment practices improved. A standard operating procedure only clarifies where responsibility lies, but it is not the best or only approach.
The department’s calculation for water prices has just been approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. In the future, the price of water is to see an upward adjustment as it needs to cover costs. If Taipei only sticks to its new standard operating procedure while residents are left worrying about the water supply, it will, disappointingly, have let residents down.
Chang Yen-ming is a former director of the Taichung office of the Water Resources Agency.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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