Taiwan Water Corporation to Acquire 10 More Drones in 2024 to Enhance Air, Land, and Sea Water Quality Inspections.

Taiwan Water Corporation (TWC) held a press conference today to announce its comprehensive water quality monitoring system, "Safeguarding Drinking Water Safety and Building a Full-Process Water Quality Monitoring System." Chairman Li Jia-rong stated that the initiative is a response to past pollution incidents, including an oil spill in the Keelung River in November 2023 and an organic solvent discharge in the Fengshan River in June 2023. TWC operates 486 water treatment plants nationwide, with 140 using surface water sources. TWC has installed 169 water quality monitoring devices in surface water treatment plants and aims to complete the deployment of inspection equipment, including drones, by the end of 2026. The company's online monitoring equipment generates approximately 1.27 billion data points annually. TWC's water quality alert platform integrates with the "1910 Customer Service Hotline" to activate response mechanisms when abnormal increases in reports are detected. TWC will also launch an AI smart customer service in June 2024, with a formal release by the end of the year. Mobile water quality inspection vehicles, costing approximately NT$15 million each, are equipped with precision instruments to rapidly screen over 300 substances during pollution incidents. The "TWC No. 1" intelligent water sampling monitoring vessel, launched last year and manufactured in Taiwan, enhances sampling efficiency and data accuracy in reservoirs. TWC currently owns 11 drones, with plans to acquire 10 more in 2024, each costing between NT$100,000 and NT$300,000 depending on function. The corporation also maintains 4,353 water quality monitoring instruments operating 24/7 and 14 certified laboratories, achieving a water quality pass rate of over 99.9%. TWC provides public access to average water quality data for 68 items on its official website, with 495 monitoring points established last year, allowing users to check real-time local water quality via QR code or Google Maps integration. Chairman Li Jia-rong emphasized TWC's commitment to seeking advanced technologies to identify contaminated water in the face of extreme climate and emerging pollutants.