Water Woes in Taiwan: Hundreds of Thousands Face Outage in New Taipei and Taoyuan

Critical Infrastructure Work Leads to Widespread Water Suspension Across Two Major Cities

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Residents in parts of New Taipei and Taoyuan, Taiwan, are bracing for a significant water outage, scheduled to begin on May 19th and last through the morning of May 20th. This essential infrastructure maintenance will impact hundreds of thousands of residents across the two major metropolitan areas.

The water suspension will affect all of Linkou District in New Taipei, as well as several neighborhoods within the Taishan and Wugu Districts. Taiwan Water Corp. estimates approximately 65,000 households in these areas will be affected.

In Taoyuan, the outage will impact Guishan, Luzhu, Dayuan, Taoyuan, and Bade Districts. The city's Economic Development Department estimates a staggering 270,000 households in these districts will experience the water interruption.

The water company has cited the need for critical inspections of electrical equipment and the execution of five other related projects at a water supply plant in Taoyuan District as the reason for the suspension. The company emphasized that this work is crucial for enhancing the safety and reliability of the water supply infrastructure.

New Taipei’s Water Resources Department has announced it will urge Taiwan Water Corp. to expedite the necessary work to minimize disruption. They are also collaborating with the company to establish 13 temporary water supply stations and deploy water trucks to assist affected residents.

The Taoyuan City Government is planning to establish a dedicated response center during the outage. The locations of 31 temporary water supply stations were to be released on Monday, and backup water wells will also be made available to residents during the period.

Taoyuan’s Economic Development Department is also requesting detailed information from the company regarding the inspection work, anticipated completion times for each area, and the steps for restoring water service. This will allow the city government to actively monitor the progress of the work.

The company is reminding the public to prepare by storing water at least six hours before the outage is scheduled to begin. Residents are also advised to turn off their water pumps during the period to prevent potential motor overheating and the risk of fire.