Taiwan Water Corp (Taiwater) is to resume the intake of water from the Keelung River today following an oil spill late last month, after confirming that it meets drinking-water standards, the state-run company said yesterday.
Taiwater chairman Lee Jia-rong (李嘉榮) said the company has strengthened its monitoring of water quality at the suspected source of the spill from Saturday last week to Tuesday, including rapid screening for odor and volatile compounds, after Keelung authorities completed dredging and anti-pollution measures on Friday last week.
No traces of oil have been detected for several days, and third-party tests have verified that the water meets drinking-water source standards and drinking-water standards, he said, although the source of the pollution has yet to be identified.
Photo: CNA
Water intake from the Keelung River, suspended since an oil slick was detected on Nov. 27, would resume at 8am today, but be halted at night, Lee said.
Intake hours would be gradually extended depending on the stability of water quality, he added.
The incident affected about 180,000 households, who would be broadly identified and not have to pay about half a month of water fees, Lee said.
That exemption is to result in at least NT$20 million (US$640,861) in lost revenue for the company, Lee said.
At the same time, the company and environmental agencies are working with prosecutors to trace the pollution source, which, once found, would be required to pay the company compensation.
Deputy Minister of Environment Yeh Jiunn-horng (葉俊宏) said suspects have been identified, and investigators are looking into the case and collecting evidence.
Wang Yue-bin (王嶽斌), director-general of the Ministry of Environment’s Water Quality Protection Department, said Keelung authorities would form a specialized inspection team.
The team would be responsible for identifying pollution hot spots, monitoring land use in water-source protection areas and increasing patrols.
The ministry said in a statement that it had directed the environmental protection agencies of Keelung and New Taipei City to step up patrols in their respective areas.
Since the incident, 65 businesses had been inspected, eight sampled and two reported as of Tuesday, it said.
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