Has anyone noticed how clean the water is around the riverwalk in Danshui?
I was just out there last Monday, the weather was quite nice. Then I looked at the water and noticed it was REALLY clean. I mean so clean that you could actually see the bottom, and almost makes me want to take a swim in it (since the weather was a bit warm), although I am sure it’s not a good idea. I honestly have never seen Danshui river this clean because normally it is quite murky, and often filled with whatever garbage the tourists around here throws into it, in addition to it smelling like raw sewage.
I was really hoping this is a more permanent change rather than just something temporary…
Do you think it has something to do with all the sewer construction that was taking place recently?
I’ve noticed a massive change over the past 5 years since I started regularly riding the riverpaths. Yes, lately lots of areas are cleaner than ever. The change is as you say partly because of increased sewage works, especially in Taipei County (New blah blah blah). In 2007 the county was upgraded and its budget almost doubled: a lot of money went to parks, paths and sewage and it shows. But not just sewage; also a lot of wetland restoration that is also helping to clean up the water and make the riversides look better. Also notice a lot less garbage in the water in touristy areas like Dadaocheng (not sure why).
Related, the EPA said at the end of last year that the Danshui was the cleanest it had been in 30 years and had the most recorded fish species in decades.
There are some really charming (literally) sections of the riverpaths now especially on the New side where you have views across the wide river with Yangmingshan in the backdrop.
Glad to hear that after all they’re talk they’re actually doing something about these places. On a similar note, I live in Xindian Bitan, and I really like how the government has done things like revamp the area, create bicycle and hiking trails, and put on shows and performances. But sometimes, their efforts make the area overly commercial & touristy. To give just a couple example - a row of traditional peddlers and vendors was replaced by a chain of over-priced restaurants run by a single owner, and an eyesore of a digital neon sign is now displayed at the entrance to the hanging bridge.
I think you’re talking about the riverside path near to where I live in Luzhou and it is really pretty.[/quote]
Yes, Luzhou, Sanchong and heading up. Some parts of the path are rough still (mostly under construction now) but the views are there and give it another 3-4 years and the whole strip will be truly lovely. The Yonghe section is almost finished now with the landscaping and is very pretty as you look across to the Taipei city side. It looks like untouched wetland in many sections. Also heading south is nice along Shulin and past Yingge toward Daxi.
I live at Hongshulin so I’m on the river paths with my son quite a bit. Still pretty gnar-gnar as far as I’m concerned. Danshui is just full of those nasty sewage-infested creeks coated with what looks like wet lint (you know what I’m talking about?) I have some cool pictures of said grey slime oozing into the mangrove.
And taking the MRT any morning after a good rain you’ll see loads of trash washed up along the stretch near the Guandu Bridge. While it’s nice to hear that the EPA has noted that it’s recovering, it’s still quite dirty (I mean, c’mon - it’s the confluence of the Xindian, Keelung and Dahan Rivers, think of all the grimy, over-populated areas that drain into the poor thing)
Maybe they are just cleaning it up for the weekend.
The Danshui is a tidal river; it can flow in either direction depending on the time of day you visit. When it’s high tide, the flow is going upstream and that’s when the smell and slime are more noticeable.
Obviously if you are near the estuary mouth and it’s high tide then seawater will predominate and therefore it should be cleaner looking. It’s still a filthy river even if it has improved somewhat and you can see sewage ‘streams’ running into it at the mangrove swamps like the other poster said. Plus when are they going to burrow those taipower lines running straight across the river?
Now you have more people living in Danshui so they will need to keep up with that population growth too.
Some of the numbers don’t make sense, it also looks like they are verbatim quoting government agencies and not doing any independent research or asking environmental groups or academics their opinions on the efforts.
[i]Boosted Connections
Taipei County also boosted the percentage of households connected to public sewerage systems to 19 percent in 2008, more than doubling the 7 percent recorded in 2005. Many of the unconnected households continue to use on-site systems such as septic tanks. Currently, the total treatment rate of sewage is around 50 percent. The county has also constructed 16 interception and 18 on-site wastewater treatment systems. Through increasing the rate of sewage of household connection to public systems and continuing to build interception and on-site treatment systems, Taipei County expects the total treatment rate will reach about 80 percent by the end of this year[/i]
The numbers above don’t make any sense to me, sorry to say it but I think it is a poor article, not because it doesn’t give a good background on government activities, but because the source of it’s information is biased and therefore untrustworthy.
Overall the river has improved quite a bit, but there are still some pretty horrible bits with plumes of nasty slimy black goop going into it, bubbling up from below, etc. Up near Danshui it’s not too bad at all, as it can be likened to a toilet bowl that gets flushed twice a day. The mangroves also seem to do some good filtration.
[quote=“headhonchoII”]Some of the numbers don’t make sense, it also looks like they are verbatim quoting government agencies and not doing any independent research or asking environmental groups or academics their opinions on the efforts.
[i]Boosted Connections
Taipei County also boosted the percentage of households connected to public sewerage systems to 19 percent in 2008, more than doubling the 7 percent recorded in 2005. Many of the unconnected households continue to use on-site systems such as septic tanks. Currently, the total treatment rate of sewage is around 50 percent. The county has also constructed 16 interception and 18 on-site wastewater treatment systems. Through increasing the rate of sewage of household connection to public systems and continuing to build interception and on-site treatment systems, Taipei County expects the total treatment rate will reach about 80 percent by the end of this year[/i]
The numbers above don’t make any sense to me, sorry to say it but I think it is a poor article, not because it doesn’t give a good background on government activities, but because the source of it’s information is biased and therefore untrustworthy.[/quote]
The number makes sense. The 50 and 80% figures are for total sewage treated, whether on site or via public facilities or interception. As for the reliability of the figures, of course they are biased: Taiwan Review is a GIO publication. AMCHAN reported in 2010 that work on sewage treatment is proceeding slower than government claims but they provide no figures so it’s hard to tell. I do believe they are right as even in Muzha it took much longer for areas to be connected than originally planned (and stated on those ubiquitous green boards). I’d love to hear from some engineers on the project how work is proceeding. Would also love to know why we still have stink coming up from grates even in areas where lines have been put in.
In any case, for the sake of this general discussion the article is useful as it shows the type of work that is being done and explains, for example, why one see raw sewage going into wetlands.