The number of severely polluted river monitoring stations in Taiwan has fallen to a record low — only two compared with 66 in 2002 — as the Ministry of Environment (MOENV) moves to tighten enforcement on illegal wastewater discharge and address emerging contaminants in drinking water.
The ministry launched a major project to clean up Taiwan’s rivers in 2002, as improper treatment of wastewater from factories, pig farms and households led to widespread pollution.
Since 2002, Taiwan’s GDP has grown by one-and-a-half times and the number of factories has increased by 27 percent, leading to a corresponding rise in river pollution, Water Quality Protection Department Director-General Wang Yue-bin (王嶽斌) said yesterday.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Environment
After years of joint efforts by the public and private sectors, the number of severely polluted river monitoring stations has dropped from 66 to just two last year — a record low, Wang said.
The proportion of rivers classified as polluted has also fallen from 14 percent to 1.9 percent, with water quality in 70 percent of national rivers showing steady improvement, he said.
However, water quality in the remaining 30 percent is unstable due to earthquakes, landslides and heavy rainfall brought by climate change, including two rivers in the north, four in central Taiwan, two in the south and eight in the east, Wang said.
The two monitoring stations still classified as severely polluted are the Wugong Bridge station on the Erren River (二仁溪) and the Heping Bridge station on the Beigang River (北港溪), he said.
The former is a drainage channel into which no water treatment plants flow, and the latter is impacted by livestock wastewater, he said, adding that they would continue to be improved.
There are 26 monitoring stations that are on the threshold between moderate and severe pollution, and have been placed under close watch, he added.
In the future, effluent standards would be tightened, and stricter controls would be placed on ammonia nitrogen, copper and phosphorus, Wang said.
The ministry is planning new guidelines and testing for emerging contaminants in drinking water, including 20 types of perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), plasticizers, boron and microcystin toxins, he said.
The ministry is tackling illegal wastewater discharge from factories and night markets by installing automatic monitoring stations to detect abnormalities, Deputy Minister of Environment Yeh Jiunn-horng (葉俊宏) said.
Stricter laws have been put in place carrying fines of up to NT$20 million (US$626,576) for illegal discharge and criminal penalties for releasing hazardous substances, Yeh said.
For general wastewater, which is more challenging, the ministry plans to promote grease separation technology and expand sewage systems to reduce environmental impact, he said.
The public and private sectors are working together to deal with livestock wastewater, jointly investing in treatment plants, which have helped significantly, Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau Director-General Hsu Jen-tse (許仁澤) said.
The Tamsui River (淡水河), which was heavily polluted in the past, has noticeably improved thanks in part to a watershed governance platform that built consensus among stakeholders, New Taipei City Environment Protection Bureau Chief Secretary Hsu Ming-chih (許銘志) added.
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