The unfinished construction of pipelines to pump sewage has held back the Taipei City Government’s efforts to clean the Sindian River (新店溪), prompting the city government to draw up plans to clean the river of 70 percent of its pollutants by 2018, with the process scheduled to start next year.
Taipei Sewage System Office Design Division Director Lu Shih-hsuan (盧師琁) said the current situation is an improvement compared with the state of the Sindian River in 1986.
At that time, the Sindian River was considered heavily polluted, with only 56 species of fish living in it, Lu said, adding that, after many years of hard work on the part of the city government, more than 65 percent of the sewage waste pipelines in Taipei’s Wenshan District (文山) are now finished.
As a result, there are now 117 species of fish in the Sindian River, Lu said.
However, as 35 percent of the sewage pipelines in the district remain unconnected, some sewage waste is being dumped directly into the Sindian River, Lu said.
The city government has earmarked NT$136 million (US$4.2 million) next year for the river cleaning project, Lu said.
The project hopes to employ gravel contact oxidation treatment and to purify water through the microorganisms hidden in natural gravel, Lu said, adding that the city government is optimistic that such processes would purify at least 70 percent of the Sindian River.
The project plans, having already cost NT$5.4 million, are to be finalized by the end of this month, and once approved, it is to put out to tender in June next year, Lu said.
Lu said that Taipei’s sewage pipelines are about 74 percent complete, while Wenshan District pipelines are only 65 percent complete.
However, the city government is aiming for 100 percent of sewage pipelines to be connected throughout the city by 2032, he added.
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