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Water supply and sanitation in Taiwan

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Piston water pump at Yingfeng Riverside Park in Taipei.

Water supply and sanitation in Taiwan refers to water-related affairs in Taiwan.

Water source

Zhuoshui River, Taiwan's longest river, running from east to west of Taiwan.
Aqueduct across Keelung River.

Taiwan Island

In Taiwan Island, the Central Mountain Range is the main mountain range running from north to south of the island. Most of the rivers on the island flow from east to west following the contour of the mountains. Although the annual rainfall is up to 2,510 mm, which is 2.5 times higher than the world's average, the distribution of the rainfall is not even due to the geographical condition of Taiwan.[1]

Kinmen

In Kinmen, water supply has been scarce over the past decades due to its shallow lakes, lack of rainfall and geographical constraints which makes building reservoirs and dams unfeasible. Water from reservoirs is barely enough to meet the demand during dry seasons. Therefore, Kinmen often overuse its groundwater for up to 8,000 tonnes per day, causing rising tidal flood and soil salinity.[2]

In early September 2013 after Kinmen Deputy Commissioner Wu You-qin led a delegation to visit Mainland China, the Chinese Mainland government agreed to supply Kinmen with water from Jinjiang City in Fujian. An undersea 16.7 km water pipeline will be built to carry water from the Shanmei Reservoir in Jinjiang city to coastal area of Kinmen. The pipeline is expected to deliver a maximum amount of 30,000 tonnes of water each day to Kinmen. A further 300 meter of water pipe will be constructed to a water treatment plant.[3]

On 23–24 May 2015, Head of Taiwan Affairs Office Zhang Zhijun visited Kinmen to discuss the water supply plan from Fujian to Kinmen. The initial stage is to supply 15,000 m3 of fresh water a day, to be increased to 34,000 m3 a day in the medium-term and to 55,000 m3 in the long-term. The water company in Fujian will build a pumping station and pipeline to the coastal town of Bingzhou and the pipeline will be connected to a 17-km underground water pipeline to Tianpu in Kinmen which will cost NT$1.35 billion.[4]

Water consumption

The current average water consumption per capita in Taiwan is 271 liter per day.[5][6] The highest usage of water is for agriculture sector, which accounts for about 60-70%.

Water scarcity

Despite its high annual rainfall, Taiwan is only able to use 20% of it as water resource, making it in the 18th place under the United Nations global ranking in terms of being water resource poor region.[7]

Institutions

Taiwan Water Corporation headquarter office in Taichung.

Taiwan Water Corporation is the state-owned water utility providing water supply to Taiwan.[8]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Water supply infrastructure in Taiwan.

References

  1. ^ http://en.aswc.asia/proceedings/tei_jp.pdf
  2. ^ "Kinmen-Fujian water pipeline to be agreed at upcoming cross-strait talks". wantchinatimes.com.
  3. ^ "China agrees to supply Kinmen Island with water". Taipei Times. 2014-05-12. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  4. ^ http://focustaiwan.tw/news/acs/201505240007.aspx
  5. ^ "Taiwan faces tough water choices | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
  6. ^ ":: 2nd Branch TAIWAN WATER CORPORATION ::". water.gov.tw.
  7. ^ "Plan needed to improve efficiency of water usage". taipeitimes.com.
  8. ^ "About Us". water.gov.tw. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
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