離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Ko vows pipeline to fix murky water
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, right, eats lunch ahead of a meeting with the Democratic Progressive Party’s Taipei City Council caucus yesterday to report on the city’s turbid water problem, as well as disaster prevention and relief measures. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
SEVEN-YEAR WAIT? The Taipei mayor said that people would not be happy waiting for studies and planning, adding that the water project could be pushed forward
By Sean Lin / Staff reporter
The Taipei City Government is to build a new pipeline to address the occurrence of murky tapwater after heavy rainfall, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲） said yesterday.
Ko made the announcement during a briefing to the Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Taipei City Council caucus.
He said the plan encompasses a pipeline connecting the Chihtan Water Purification Plant in New Taipei City’s Sindian District （新店） and the Feitsui Reservoir.
The announcement came two months after the project was proposed by the city government, after Typhoon Soudelor saw sediment in the Nanshih River （南勢溪） upstream of the plant affect water supplies to Taipei and New Taipei City.
Raw water turbidity in the Greater Taipei area has spiked after heavy rains recently, with the Taipei City Government attributing the situation to poor soil and water conservation efforts.
Ko reiterated the city government’s hope that the Ministry of Economic Affairs would fully subsidize the pipeline, which is estimated to cost NT$2 billion （US$61.09 million）.
He said the pipeline would supply water to about 6 million residents in the Greater Taipei area and is therefore not just Taipei’s concern.
The plant processes more than 70 percent of the water used in Taipei and New Taipei City.
Taipei Water Department Commissioner Chen Chin-hsiang （陳錦祥） said the project would take about seven years to finish, as an environmental impact assessment for the pipeline would take about two years, while land acquisition procedures and construction would take about two and three years respectively.
Chen said that a viability assessment would begin next month and that the pipeline would be completed in 2023 at the earliest.
Ko said it is unlikely that residents would be comfortable with the long time frame, adding that the city government would establish a task force to facilitate communication with the central government and explore ways to push forward the project’s completion.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
