The government is planning to build two large seawater desalination plants in Tainan, as well as several small and medium-sized desalination plants around the nation, in order to resolve water-shortage problems, local media reported yesterday.
The announcement comes just days after the Water Resources Agency under the Ministry of Economic Affairs banned the use of water for "unnecessary purposes" in Taoyuan, Miaoli and Chiayi due to low rainfall in these areas.
The agency also warned that, if water shortages continue, it might have to restrict water usage in other areas and lower water pressure at nights across the nation starting next month.
The government plans to build a large seawater desalination plant in Tainan by 2007 that will be capable of supplying 30,000 tonnes of clear water daily.
A second large desalination plant capable of generating 40,000 tonnes of clear water a day will also be built in the Tainan area by 2010 to ensure water supplies for the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (台南科學園區).
The government has already built desalination plants in Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu to solve the water shortages on these islands.
Penghu -- after years of painstaking development projects to conserve and create water resources -- is now the only county in the nation that is not suffering from water shortages.
The completion of the Wukan (
The plant, which cost NT$440 million, is the nation's largest desalination plant and is capable of supplying 7,000 tonnes of clear water daily, which is about half of the amount of water needed by Penghu residents.
According to an official in charge of water resource affairs, the costs for desalination have continually declined in recent years and it only costs about NT$30 to desalinate one tonne of seawater.
The government is therefore encouraging private investment in small and medium desalination plants as another way to help relieve the nation's water shortages.
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