Despite public complaints about tap water turbidity in Taipei and New Taipei City spiking after heavy rainfalls this summer, the Taipei City Government and the Ministry of Economic Affairs have yet to reach a consensus on how to fund a planned pipeline that would supply clean water to the city.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基) yesterday told a news conference that the ministry had agreed to cover all potential costs from the pipeline’s construction during a meeting where possible methods to improve water quality upstream of the Sindian River (新店溪) were discussed.
The pipeline, which would be able to supply 2.7 million tonnes of water daily to Taipei and New Taipei City, is to connect the Feitsui Reservoir and the Jhihtan (直潭) Water Purification Plant, bypassing a section along the Nanshih River (南勢溪) — which flows into the Sindian River — where water is prone to turn murky after rain.
The pipeline would cost between NT$2 billion and NT$3.2 billion (US$61.1 million and US$97.8 million), Teng said.
However, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) denied that the ministry has agreed to pay the entire amount. Agency spokesman Wang Yi-feng (王藝峰) said that the ministry is inclined to have the city government share part of the expenditure after calculating available funds.
Wang added that the city government should fund the project by itself if possible.
The ministry would wait for the city government to propose a more detailed plan before determining how, or if, it would fund the project, he said.
He said that a task force comprising the agency, Taiwan Water Corp and the Taipei Water Department would finish evaluating possible ways of improving water quality in Taipei and New Taipei City by the end of this year.
He said that possible methods to improve water quality included the pipeline, development of subsurface water sources and backup wells, and revising a phase-two project on utilizing water supplies in the Banciao-Sindian (板橋-新店) area.
The improved project would involve the construction of a 2.9km pipeline between the Jhihtan plant and the Banciao-Sindian Water Supply Plant (板新給水廠) to enable two-way water transportation, and is estimated to supply Taipei with 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes of water per day for emergency use, Wang said.
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