The groundwater in Changhua County has most likely been severely polluted by heavy metals, a legislator claimed yesterday, and called on the government to investigate the matter.
To support his claim, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wei Ming-ku (
Wei poured some tap water and mineral water into two glasses of tea, causing the color of the tea in both glasses to fade away. He then poured some groundwater into another glass of tea, which instantly turned a dark black color.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Wei said that the groundwater had been obtained from Hemei (
"In Changhua County, the rate of access to tap water is 93 percent, which means that 7 percent of the residential water supply comes from the underground water table. But no one can say for sure that the groundwater is free from pollution," Wei said.
According to Wei, about one-third of the county's irrigation water is derived from underground sources.
"The government has remedied the cadmium soil pollution problem, but the rice grown there is still polluted with cadmium. In light of this situation, it seems likely that the groundwater has been polluted," former Changhua County councilor Ko Chin-te (
Shen I-fu (
Shen said that the groundwater in Changhua County was found to have a high iron and manganese content, which he said might cause a chemical reaction when mixed with tea that would explain why Wei's tea turned black.
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