TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — New Taipei City's Education Department revealed ceramics made from sediment from Taoyuan’s Shihmen Reservoir on Monday.
Students from New Taipei Municipal Yingge Vocational High School combined 3D printing technology with the sediment to produce their handiworks, per Liberty Times.
Northern Region Water Resources Office section chief Liu Chih-kuang (劉志光) said at a press conference that Shihmen Reservoir, Taiwan’s third-largest reservoir, accumulates an average of 3 million cubic meters of sediment annually.

Dams and reservoirs accumulate sediment at their bases and edges, limiting the amount of water that can be stored. Liu said dredging ships need to extract the sediment, store it in settling basins to dry, and then transport it to the Port of Taipei for shipping.
One student, Wu Yan-lin (吳彥霖), said it was unimaginable to combine silt with clay for 3D printing. The technology enhances angles and textures difficult to achieve by hand.
Challenges include processing sediment into machine-compatible clay and mastering temperature, shrinkage ratio, and glaze formulation, she explained.
The city's education department director Chang Ming-wen (張明文) said the students turned “reservoir silt into gold,” per CNA. He praised their creative efforts which aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.