Taiwan has no choice but to recycle water to cope with the threat of water shortages, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said yesterday.
Taiwan, which has not escaped the global effects of climate change, will have to focus on renewable water resources for sustainable development of its industry and agriculture, as well as for domestic use, he said.
Water usage
Taiwan’s problem stems from its rapid increase in water use and difficulty in finding suitable areas to build additional reservoirs, Shih said during a visit to a water recycling plant at the Nanzih Export Processing Zone in Greater Kaohsiung.
The agricultural sector accounts for about 70 percent of the water used in Taiwan, followed by 20 percent for household use and 10 percent for the industrial sector, Shih said.
Shih praised the industrial sector for its efforts to reuse water, with the percentage of recycled water in the sector currently accounting for 60 percent.
“There is still room for the sector to further boost its water recycling rate to the level of the Japanese industrial sector, which currently stands at 64 percent,” Shih said.
Good investment
The Nanzih water recycling plant is of particular note because it only cost NT$74 million (US$2.5 million) to construct, but is expected to produce very positive results, Shih said, urging manufacturers nationwide to follow suit.
In related news, the Water Resources Agency said that water supplies might be reduced starting on Friday for central and northern Taiwan as a result of insufficient rainfall over the past few months.
The Water Resources Agency said that affected areas will include the central counties of Changhua and Miaoli, as well as Greater Taichung, Banciao (板橋) and Sinjhuang (新莊) districts in New Taipei City (新北市) and Taoyuan County.
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