The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday approved a water pricing proposal by the Taipei Water Department, which is to increase the capital’s water rates by up to 30 percent next year.
“We will soon submit the proposed pricing formula and new water rates to the Taipei City Government’s price review committee and the Taipei City Council for further deliberation,” Taipei Water Department Deputy Commissioner Chen Man-li (陳曼莉) told a news conference.
“We hope the new rates will take effect at the beginning of next year,” she said.
Chen said there are 1.65 million households using the city’s water supply, with more than 60 percent of them using less than 20m3 of water per month, while about 4 percent of commercial users — such as department stores — use more than 1,000m3 per month.
“The new water rates will not affect those that use less than 20m3 of water per month, while those that use more will be subject to higher rates,” Chen said.
The new water prices are to be divided into five brackets based on the amount of water used, with the rate of the highest bracket to be four or five times greater than the lowest bracket, she said.
Currently, water rates in Taipei are between NT$5 and NT$7.6 per cubic meter — NT$2 cheaper than the rest of the nation — and have remained unchanged for 21 years, the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Water Resources Agency said.
Taipei is the only city that manages its own water supply, while supplies to other cities and counties are controlled by the central government, the agency said.
“The approval of Taipei’s new pricing formula marks a significant step by the ministry and the Taipei City Government in plans to gradually unify the nation’s water rates by 2018,” agency Deputy Director-General Lai Chien-hsin (賴建信) said by telephone.
Lai said the new rates formula would also be used by Taiwan Water Corp (台灣自來水).
However, given Taiwan Water supplies water to more areas than the Taipei Water Department, it will take more time for Taiwan Water to calculate costs and set up new water rates for places outside Taipei.
The government is to review the water pricing formula every four years to ensure the mechanism reflects costs to supply water, Lai said.
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