Sufficient water supplies exist in central Taiwan for the first part of this year, the Water Resources Agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Agency officials noted the area will need approximately 2.4 million tonnes of water per day, but this would be available thanks to plentiful rainfall in the first quarter.
Officials said that Taichung can supply 1.2 million tonnes of water daily, which is enough to meet demands, but noted that the Tachia River, the main source of water, often becomes turbid after downpours since the devastating Sept. 21, 1999 earthquake, and that this turbidity could affect supply.
In addition, the launch of the Central Taiwan Science Park (
The Central Taiwan Science Park needs 256,000 tonnes of water daily, but when the first-stage of work at the Holi water purification plant is completed at the end of 2009, water supply should no longer pose a problem.
Meanwhile, the development of the Changpin Industrial Zone has not been as rapid as expected, with only a third of the estimated manufacturers entering the zone, resulting in daily water use of around 7,300 tonnes.
To effectively utilize water sources in the region, officials have reviewed and adjusted the water supply. But overall, the household and industrial use of water in Changhua are gradually exceeding available supplies.
The Yunlin Technology Industrial Park's daily water requirement is about 270,000 tonnes, supplied by the Chichi River, but as there is no reservoir, the industrial park has to rely on water from irrigation systems during the dry season.
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