Two Kaohsiung county reservoirs were named by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday as being the most polluted of the nation's 20 reservoirs.
Feng Shan Reservoir in Kao-hsiung County's Linyuan Township (林園) was the dirtiest reservoir, said Lu Hung-kuang (呂鴻光), chief of the EPA's Department of Water Protection.
"And there is a trend of it getting worse over the years," he said.
The degree of pollution is measured using the Carlson Trophic State Index (CTSI), which assesses the eutrophication of a lake. Eutrophication occurs when nutrient levels in water increase too much, causing excess algal growth.
The enrichment of nutrients in an ecosystem and the cloudiness of the lake resulting from micro-biomass are all measured, Lu said.
Water transparency, total phosphorus levels, and chlorophyll a levels -- which indicate the density of phytoplankton -- also contribute to the index, he said.
CTSI is scaled from 0 to 110, with each 10 units indicating a doubling of algal biomass.
The Feng Shan Reservoir has a CTSI of over 70, the EPA said.
The Cheng Ching Hu Reservoir in Kaohsiung County's Niaosong Township (
However the reservoir has seen gradual improvements over the years, with its CTSI dropping from a historic peak of 66 to 50 this June, Lu said.
"But citizens need not worry, since the water still needs to go through a water treatment plant before it runs into the taps at home," he said.
Shihmen Reservoir, Wu She Reservoir, Te Chi Reservoir and the Sun Moon Lake reservoir are among the country's cleanest reservoirs, the EPA said.
Twelve reservoirs received neutral scores, including Feitsui Reservoir, which provides drinking water to Taipei City.
Feitsui's CTSI, last measured in August, was in the low 40s, Lu said.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
RSS