After hearing a report by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on the progress of Taiwan's sewerage construction project, Premier Jiang Yi-huah noted that this effort is an important part of the i-Taiwan 12 Projects because it will directly improve public sanitation, wastewater recycling and the development of water resources.
The premier asked the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to continue actively promoting the project to meet the target of increasing the percentage of the population connected to the national sewerage system by 3 percent per year.
As water resources are expected to be less plentiful in the future, the premier also asked the MOI to speed up its wastewater recycling, reuse and reclamation plan for sewage treatment plants to make them valuable alternative water resources.
Jiang emphasized that the sludge deposited in the sewers has a negative impact on public sanitation and the environment, and he asked the Environmental Protection Administration to help the MOI when necessary. He also requested the MOI to swiftly formulate and implement measures for the treatment of this waste.
According to the MOI, Taiwan's overall sewerage coverage rate was 63.64 percent of the population as of the end of February 2013. Roughly half of those connected—32.62 percent of citizens, or 1,902,706 households—are linked to public sewerage systems. Another 15.14 percent are connected to private sewerage systems for large developments exceeding either 500 people or 100 households, while 15.88 percent are attached to individual treatment facilities and other small private systems for developments of under 500 people or 100 households.
The number of fish species living in the Tamsui River, an indicator of water quality in the Taipei area, has increased from 56 between 1983 and 1986 to 109 now, MOI officials said.