(Exclusive interview made by journalist Liu Te-ching from Military News Agency)
“Our division has cooperated with the governmental policy of energy-saving for many years in order to be friendly to Taiwan and the Earth.” This was said by the construction officer of the 53th Engineer Corp., Major Li Yung-chun, and the division which he belongs to was rated as the division that saved most water among the Army.In response to the current serious drought, all the corps of the Armed Forces had significant performances in cooperation with the water-saving policy planned by the government. The water-saving master, Major Li Yung-chun, indicated that by using various kinds of water-saving methods, the division he belongs to has saved more than 14,000 cubic meters from Jan. to March this year in comparison with the same time period of last year, which equals to saving approximately water fee expense of NTD 210,000.Li Yung-chun indicated that in addition to installing water-saving faucets and tuning the triangular valves under the sinks in every division in order to reduce 50% of water supply, all the toilet bowls are also equipped with 2-step flushing devices for different flushing water amount for different needs. There are also used water recycling buckets in every toilet and bathroom to collect used water after hand-washing, and the collected used water can be apply in the cleaning of environment, which also helps in effective water-saving.Li Yung-chun said that the water supply in the camp is controlled depending on specific hours. Exclusive responsible officers are ordered to control the valves of pipes connecting the water source, and water is only provided during three specific time periods just as the 3 meals of a day. All the officers and soldiers are asked to finish personal washing and bathing in these time periods. After a long term of practice, not only the results of water-saving were gained, but officers and soldiers also make up good habits of water-saving in their daily lives.Besides, the Engineer Corp. also have groups of exclusively responsible personnel to perform leakage checks in planned routes every on time in order to check if there is any leakage in pipes and valves. In addition to visual checking and the checks by hearing, Li Yung-chun also has a method for checking the leakage of underground pipes. According to him, we can see if there is any grassland which is wet without a rainfall or the grass on a specific area of land is especially prosperous, and then there might be a leakage in the underground pipes. The numbers showing on the water meters should also be recorded on a regular basis for the establishment of regular consumption coefficient. Abnormal conditions such as water-wasting or malfunction of water meters should also be found and coped with. It is only possible to save water by finding and dealing with problems immediately and effective controlling water resources.