Shortage of water set to drain profits

"I will be out of business ? I am starting to think about switching to another industry to make a living."

Chu Fang-yi, owner of a small car detailing center

Water-intensive businesses in Taipei, such as car washes and saunas, are preparing for the worst as the city government plans curtail their water supplies as early as tomorrow.

Since May 1, the city government has prohibited the use of tap water for watering greenery, cleaning streets and use in decorative fountains in an effort to cope with an ongoing drought.

The second phase, set to begin tonmorrow, will affect all public and private recreation areas including swimming pools, saunas and women's beauty spas. Car washes will also face restrictions. Violators of the new rules face a total suspension of their water supplies.

Car detailers depend excusively on cleaning autos, inside and out, for their livelihood. Car detailing is a kind of high-end car-cleaning service.

"I will be out of business ? I am starting to think about switching to another industry to make a living," said Chu Fang-yi (朱芳毅), 35, owner of a small car detailing center on Taipei's Chinshan S. Road.

Ju added that no water is the equivalent of closing the doors.

To eliminate overhead costs, Ju already laid off his staff last week.

"I had no choice ? since no one knows when the drought will end, I can't afford to have them just sit here and wait for rain," Ju said.

Another large-scale car-wash operator said the situation goes beyond lost jobs.

"Without water supply, we will lose about NT$70,000 in car-wash sales per day, however the company still has to cover NT$1.4 million in monthly overhead expenses," said Chen Chiang (陳鏘), an executive from the Yang-Kuang Car Wash Center (陽光洗車中心).

With about 60 staff, the Yang-Kuang center employs the disabled at its two outlets.

"We can't just leave our employees wandering on the streets, and we plan to pay them half-time pay even during the shut-down."

Chen said they are talking to several enterprises and hope to pull in some extra cash by providing house cleaning services.

Another sector expected to be hard hit is the women's beauty-spa sector.

"Following the city government's restrictions on Wednesday, we will shut down all swimming pools, sauna and spa facilities at our fitness centers," said Huang Roh-shuen (黃若瑄), the public relations manager at Alexander Health Club (亞歷山大俱樂部), a local fitness chain with 23 outlets nationwide.

Shopping centers will also face restrictions.

"We've decided to reduce our business hours in an effort to conserve water," said Alison Kao (高治華), a spokesperson for Core Pacific City Mall (京華城).

Starting from tomorrow, the mega mall will advance its closing time by two hours, and its 24-hour food court area will be closed at 2am.

"We will save up to 6,000 tonnes of water per month by shortening or operating hours, while we may also lose up to NT$80 million in sales per month as well," Kao said.