TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei City Government launched the city's first public on-site sewage treatment facility Monday at the White Stone Cirque Agri-tourism Area in Neihu District, offering a solution for wastewater management in mountainous areas where laying long-distance pipelines is not feasible.
Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) attended the inauguration ceremony on Monday, noting that Taipei’s Public Works Department overcame numerous challenges in executing the project. He called it a significant breakthrough for the city in environmental engineering and water resource management, per CNA.
Chiang said the agri-tourism area, known for its popular strawberry farms, attracts numerous visitors annually, creating a corresponding demand for wastewater treatment. The area previously relied on septic tanks to handle wastewater, which had limited treatment capacity and raised hygiene concerns.
Cheng Pei-chia (程培嘉), an official at Taipei's Public Works Department, said the facility is equipped with hydraulic and solar power generation systems. It has undergone three rounds of water quality testing, and the treated water meets the standards set by the Ministry of Environment. Cheng added that the facility will also be extended for use in other mountainous areas of the city.
Cheng explained that 60% of the Neihu District consists of hillside terrain, and about one-third of the area has not been equipped with sewer pipelines due to the challenging landscape. He said the facility will help improve local sanitation and river water quality.
Taipei has connected 83% of households to the public sewer system, the highest rate in the country. The city government said it is building three large-scale water resource centers, each capable of treating 160,000 tonnes of wastewater daily. The city aims to handle all its wastewater within its system by 2030.
Cheng added that the three centers are expected to control odors through four main measures: placing treatment facilities underground, implementing deodorization systems, sealing open structures with covers, and adding more monitoring devices for enhanced oversight. The ground-level space above the facilities will also be developed into parks.
