The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is considering regulating wastewater dis-charged by hot spring hotels because emerging spa tourism has been linked to ecological damage, officials said yesterday.
According to the EPA, nearly half the nation's 128 recreational spa sites are in environmentally-sensitive areas designated by the government for protection of water resources.
Yang Wan-fa (
By analyzing populations of fish, zooplankton, algae, insects and other organisms, Yang found that hot wastewater discharged from spa hotels along rivers caused dramatic changes in wildlife distribution.
EPA officials said yesterday that 65 percent of the nation's hot springs contain baking soda. The acidity of wastewater discharged from spa hotels varies.
EPA officials said that they are mostly worried by the temperature of such wastewater, which ranges from 35?Cto 45?C.
"Such hot water is often discharged into cold river water at a temperature lower than 20?C in the mountains. We can't ignore potential negative ecological impacts," said Leu Horng-guang (
Leu said that the EPA is considering regulating spa hotels' wastewater discharges, at least by asking spa hotels to discharge hot spring wastewater and other sewage separately.
Leu said that used hot spring water would have to be disinfected and filtered before being discharged into rivers, while sewage would have to be treated in septic tanks.
EPA officials said that human activities have significantly changed the natural distribution of hot springs. In addition to hot springs at ground level, many spa hotels pump hot spring water from underground. Some spa hotels offer tourists artificial hot springs of heated tap water.
"No matter what kind of `hot spring' these hotels use, the discharge of wastewater will have to meet future regulations," Leu said, predicting that regulations might be established within three years.
Chang Li-hsun (
"That's why about 80 percent of used hot spring water in Japan can be recycled and reused appropriately," Chang said.
Currently, the Water Re-sources Agency is also considering instituting fees for pumping hot spring water from underground to avoid depleting these resources.
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