We saw this pollution in the river in Tamsui,… it’s not the first time we’ve seen disgusting things going into the river. Many farmers and industrial sites still seem to think it is okay to dump chemical and agricultural waste in the river.
The reality: the river is much cleaner now than it ever used to be. Whenever we walk up and down the cycle track nearby we really can see the efforts that the local governments have made over the past twenty years to clean it up.
The amount of money spent, though, has been staggering. Some reports put it in excess of US$3.5 billion just for one 10 year period alone ending in about 2001.
But the results are wonderful: the riverbanks are now recreational areas with cycle tracks, parks, riverboats, birds and fauna are growing again, and people can easily spend a whole weekend exploring the entire estuary on both sides of the river.
It’s been turned into a majestic and essential part of Taipei Life. I’m hoping that we will see even less than this in the future!