Residents of Shanlin Da'ai Park Go Nearly 80 Hours Without Water; Permanent Housing Residents Complain That Ten Years After the Typhoon Disaster They Have Become Refugees Again

Just two months after the tenth anniversary of Typhoon Morakot, the survivors of that devastating disaster are working hard to move past their grief and move toward their future lives. Unexpectedly, the residents of the permanent housing at Da'ai Park in Shanlin District, Kaohsiung City, often have to face the predicament of having no water to use.

Residents complain that in the eight or nine years they have lived in the permanent housing, water has been cut off without warning every two or three months at the shortest, or every half a year at the longest. A half-day or one-day outage was still bearable, and they gradually got used to it. But this water outage was outrageous: it lasted from late at night on October 20 to late at night on October 23. Throughout Da'ai Park, either the water was cut off entirely, or the flow was thinner than a little finger, or the tap water turned black and even smelled of rust.

Taiwan Water Corporation's Seventh District Office explained that insufficient water sources, damage to the booster pump at the Dalin booster station, and a ruptured pipe supplying make-up raw water were all causes of the outage. After emergency repairs, tap water gradually returned to normal on the morning of October 24.

Resident Chi Hsing-fang said that the water outage problem dragging on for so long had driven Da'ai residents crazy. Although this time it was resolved, no one knows when it will happen again. Ordinary homes usually install water towers on their roofs, but Da'ai Park is restricted by the agreement signed when residents moved in, which explicitly states that the appearance of the permanent housing cannot be altered. In addition, the roofs are not built with concrete and cannot bear the weight of a water tower. She said with a bitter smile, "We are working hard to rebuild our lives and do not want to be seen by outsiders as disaster victims, but now we often become waterless refugees."

Water Outages Are Really Unbearable: Clothes Get Blacker the More They Are Washed; Residents Have Nowhere to Turn; the Elderly and Children Are the Most Vulnerable

There are a total of 1,004 permanent housing units in Da'ai Park in Shanlin, a long, narrow residential area sloping from northeast to southwest. Because the households in the northeast are located higher up, this area is always the first to lose water and the last to have it restored.

Resident Mrs. Wang said what she fears most is a water outage, because once the water stops, life nearly comes to a halt. She cannot wash vegetables or cook, and washing up and using the toilet are even more troublesome. "Although the water company urgently set up temporary water stations for everyone to fetch water, I saw some households with only elderly people living alone, or children whose parents had not yet come home from work. What are they supposed to do?"

Resident Chi Hsing-fang, known in the community as the most enthusiastic mother, found that during the daytime on Sunday, October 20, the tap water began to flow less and less and then stopped; on the afternoon of October 21, the water company urgently set up two temporary water stations, but in less than an hour the water had been fetched dry; on October 22, residents continued to fetch water to get by, but those who only got home from work in the evening could not get any water at all.

Water Company Responds "Everything Is Normal," Residents Go Crazy

During the daytime on October 23, tap water gradually resumed, but the flow was small, and some household faucets still ran black water. The impurities in the water were like fine sand, and it smelled of rust. Resident Mrs. Yang did not pay much attention. As soon as she heard the water was back, she happily immediately used the washing machine. Unexpectedly, two hours later when she opened the lid, all the light-colored and white clothes had turned black, and her face turned green!

After enduring until the fourth day, residents began venting furiously on social media and also called Kaohsiung City Government's "1999" hotline for help, but there was no follow-up. Later, residents simply called the water company's service hotline "1910" (meaning "one call and it works"), but unexpectedly, after checking, customer service actually replied, "Water supply is normal, and no one has reported any problems. Everything is normal." Residents said this answer was even more infuriating than the water outage!

Compound Causes of Water Outages: When One Place Has a Problem, the Whole Park Loses Water; the Water Company Acts as If Facing a Major Enemy

In fact, on October 23, Wu Ching-chuan, deputy director of Taiwan Water Corporation's Seventh District Office, personally visited Da'ai Park, called on the local neighborhood chief and councilors, and made commitments regarding this tap water outage. First, conduct a comprehensive inspection of the tap water pipelines; second, select four locations within Da'ai Park to add water storage equipment; third, select and train one worker responsible for operating the water storage equipment.

Huang Ming-chiu, director of the Qishan Operations Office, explained that the causes of this water outage were several compound factors. First was insufficient water sources; second, the Dalin booster station that delivers water to Da'ai Park is at the end of the water route, so once water sources are insufficient, water cannot be delivered to the tail end; third was damage to the booster station's booster pump; and finally, after the pump problem was resolved, the pipe supplying make-up raw water ruptured.

Finally, after the water company accelerated repairs over several days, tap water finally returned to normal supply on the morning of October 24, and residents joyfully and enthusiastically shared the news on Facebook. One person wrote, "Finally we can wash everything to our heart's content," while another exaggeratedly described it, "The water pressure could shoot through a wall."