The Environmental Protection Bureau has identified over twenty types of pollutants in the Tamsui river system, and the oxygen content of the water in the river's middle and lower reaches approaches zero.
根據衛生署環保局的統計，淡水河流域大大小小的汙染源有廿幾種之多。如今河流中、下游的溶氧量（水中含有供生物生存的氧氣），已近於 OPPM（乾淨水是 9PPM，魚類生存需 2 到 4PPM）、難怪大部分的河域都成了臭、髒、黑，人人避之唯恐不及的「惡水」。