The water quality at most beaches in Taiwan last year was good, making them suitable for recreational activities, research released yesterday by the Ocean Conservation Administration showed.
The study was part of broader government research on seawater quality around Taiwan proper, the agency said in a statement.
Thirty-six samples of water from 16 popular beaches were tested in June and July last year for Escherichia coli and other microbes using a grading system recommended by the WHO and the US Environmental Protection Agency, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Ocean Conservation Administration
The water quality was “good” in 26 tests, “fair” in five tests and “unsatisfactory” in one test, it said.
The research suggests that people can take part in activities at beaches without too much concern about water quality, even during the busiest seasons, it said.
The agency operates 25 coastal saltwater monitoring stations and 105 stations in waters 1km to 2km from shore, it said.
The stations provide water quality indicators such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen concentration, heavy metal concentrations, nitrogen compound concentrations and alkalinity, it said.
Local governments also run monitoring stations that focus on coastal water quality, bringing the total to 246 facilities, it said.
The local government facilities also found that water quality around Taiwan was mostly good, the agency added.
Saltwater quality data are available for public view on the agency’s open-source Web site, https://iocean.oca.gov.tw, it said.
The agency hopes the research would boost public awareness of the importance of marine conservation to the nation, it said.
The agency released the research to mark the UN’s World Water Day today.
The theme of this year’s World Water Day is glacier preservation.
Although none exist in Taiwan today, their melting due to climate change would have a global impact on the ocean, the agency said.
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