From the Japanese era: Shanshang’s watercourse

The Zengwen River (曾文溪), one of South Taiwan's most important drainages, forms the township’s northern boundary. More than a hundred years ago, the Japanese regime that was handed control of Taiwan chose Shanshang to be the location of a water-filtration plant that would supply drinkable water to the region’s growing population.

The facility, now known as the Old Tainan Watercourse (原台南水道), has not been used since the 1980s. The complex (two large structures, plus a handful of smaller buildings surrounded by tall trees), however, remains a striking landmark and a fascinating – albeit difficult – place to visit.

In the first few decades of the twentieth century, Taiwan was a proving ground for Japanese architects and engineers eager to show their ability. Mishiro Hamano, a civil engineer and former student of W.K. Burton (a Briton who made very important contributions to sanitation and public health in Japan) was one of those behind the watercourse project.

The Tainan Watercourse was first proposed in 1897, but the colonial authorities did not allocate funds for its construction until 1912. A decade later, the British-made filtration system – the first installed in Taiwan – was cleansing 450,000 cubic meters of water a day.

In 2002, the Tainan County Government designated the watercourse a local historic site. Three years later, the Ministry of the Interior added it to the central government’s list of national relics.

Much of the original equipment remains in place. For example, there is a backwash-pressure engine that was used to unclog the filters by blasting water back through them.

Makers’ insignia can be found on several of the machines. Some are so polished by time that they are almost illegible, but visitors can still read enough to see how, in the 1920s, Japan still depended on imported Western technology. One plaque reads: “E.H. Hunter & Co., Contractors – Osaka, Kobe & London.”

Of the four engines that used to pump clean water out of the watercourse and up to a covered reservoir on a nearby hilltop, three are original. The fourth dates from just after World War II, and bears an interesting stamp of origin: “Yasukawa Electric Mfg. Co. Ltd. – Made in Occupied Japan.”

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