NTU and Taipei City Transform Historic Canal into Pleasant Water Landscape (Local)
Along one side of Section 3 of Xinsheng South Road was a drainage canal built during the Japanese rule. The canal was concealed in 1973 and later buried under the cement culverts beneath Xinsheng South Road. Taipei City worked with NTU to rediscover the waterway image along Xinsheng South Road Section 3. NTU pulled down part of the campus wall and offered a piece of land to restore a pleasant water landscape in an urban environment with waterway as the core image of design. Since then, people have been stopping by, taking photos, or just appreciating the view. Local animals have been spotted walking through this new space as well, such as red-bellied tree squirrels and Malayan night herons. It has become the new landmark in Gongguan area. The canal stretches from NTU’s main entrance to NTU Sports Center near Section 1, Xinhai Road. The parking space for scooters and bicycles were remodeled into pedestrian-only space in a green and sustainable way. Besides permeable pavement, lots of shrubs and ground cover plants are grown in this new space. Based on the image of an agricultural waterway, this beautiful canal can also retain floodwater. It really has reshaped the relationship between human, space, and life. The restored canal along Xinsheng South Road Section 3 connects the green belts outside and inside of the campus. The landscape is spacious and bright, and it provides a recreational area of historical and ecological significance for the public, the faculty, and students alike.
Northern Taiwan River Conservation Center (Regional)
To combat the pollution of our rivers more effectively, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) established the Water Watch Program in 2002 and created aquatic environment patrol teams to monitor several key rivers around the country. With considerable government resources and the help of dedicated volunteers, a total of 486 such patrol teams are currently in service up to 2022. The responsibilities of these patrol teams include maintaining the aquatic ecosystems, monitoring water quality, reporting instances of pollution, and promoting environmental education. To help the EPA support the Department of Environmental Protection of local governments in manage river patrol teams, NTU established the Northern Taiwan River Conservation Center in 20151. The Center is responsible for organizing annual training sessions to train seed teachers and introduce emerging technologies to assist in law enforcement. The latter includes using resin packs to monitor heavy metals and employing drones to aid in patrolling waters and monitoring ecological conditions along the rivers. The Center hopes to leverage these various tools to implement the Water Watch Program with local characteristics in jurisdictions and to motivate local residents to participate in these efforts, fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors to ensure the cleanliness and health of rivers.
（照片來源：經濟部）
Te-Chi Reservoir Water Quality and Algae Monitoring Program (Regional)
The Te-Chi Reservoir is a significant water source in the central region of Taiwan. NTU assists the Ministry of Economic Affairs in conducting water quality investigations in the reservoir's catchment area and monitoring algae in the Te-Chi Reservoir. This effort aims to understand the impact of climate change on water quality and eutrophication in the reservoir. In addition to ensuring that the reservoir's water quality meets drinking water source standards, it also contributes to informing the government's future improvement strategies for reservoir management.
Preventing Lead Contamination in Drinking Water (Regional)
Lead poses a serious threat to human health, yet lead contamination in drinking water and the resulting human exposure have been overlooked for an extended period. Research has revealed that in recent lead contamination incidents, the shedding of lead corrosion byproducts from pipe walls is a major contributor to high levels of lead contamination in drinking water. The appearance of these byproducts in drinking water is sporadic and random, making it challenging to monitor their concentrations. Even the use of lead-free pipe materials does not entirely eliminate lead content. NTU has been assisting the government over the long term in understanding how common lead corrosion byproducts in water supply pipelines affect water quality. This knowledge aids in the replacement of lead pipes in our country and related preventive measures.
Sustainable Water Resources Management: the Integration and Improvement of Water Resources System for Industrial Development in Southern Taiwan (Regional)
NTU has set its goal on "Sustainable Water Resource Governance," with a specific focus on the link between industrial development and water resource supply and demand. The research area will encompass the water resource system network in southern Taiwan. The program aims to discuss the integration and enhancement of water resource management strategies, addressing key aspects of water management, water quantity, and water quality. It will emphasize critical topics such as smart water management, innovative water resources, and wastewater reuse. The objective is to develop sophisticated and diverse water resource utilization and management techniques with the expectation of enhancing Taiwan's adaptability to climate change and the risks associated with water resource scarcity.
Water Safety Management and Maintenance Program (National)
To promote public awareness regarding water supply management and provide assistance to schools without access to tap water, the K-12 Education Administration of the Ministry of Education has commissioned NTU to carry out a water safety management and maintenance program for school campuses around the country over the years. The program includes: Preparing campus water safety maintenance and management manuals, organizing regular seminars, and implementing databases with water management information collected and compiled from various schools. For campuses without tap water and have access only to groundwater or mountain spring water sources, the program has also provided assistance by assigning advisory teams to conduct on-site surveys at these locations, including inspecting water treatment equipment, analyzing water quality, and conducting interviews with school water resource administrators, after which appropriate recommendations are made. Over the past dozen years or so, these advisory teams have paid over a thousand visits to schools in remote areas and spared no effort in helping elementary and secondary schools ensure the safety and quality of their water supply.
NTU Student Travels to Uganda to Build Wells of Hope (Global)
Yu-Ting Hsieh, a student at the NTU Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, learned of a water purification project led by NGO Love Binti International, and without hesitation, decided to travel to Uganda as a volunteer and put her studies into practice to help improve water resources and sanitation in the region. The main goal of the water purification project is to increase the proportion of safe drinking water in Africa by digging wells in areas that lack them and educating communities about sanitation. During her four-and-a-half months in Uganda, Hsieh rode a motorbike to different villages in the region to survey suitable well sites, visited households and schools on foot, and conducted water quality sampling. She wanted to learn how different water resource conditions will affect health and water usage. Hsieh especially valued the sustainable development aspect of the water purification project. After the completion of each survey, Hsieh then took the initiative tocontact local governments to share and discuss her methodology and results in the hope that the local community can continue to establish self-sufficient, clean water resources. For further information, please see here.
