Taiwan Leaky Pipes Losing 1.97 Million Cubic Meters of Water Per Day

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 15, 2002

Taiwan Leaky Pipes Losing 1.97 Million Cubic Meters of Water Per Day

Due to old and defective distribution systems, the Taiwan Water Company allows the loss of some 1.97 million cubic meters of water per day through leakage, according to a report from Taiwan Saturday.

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Due to old and defective distribution systems, the Taiwan Water Company allows the loss of some 1.97 million cubic meters of water per day through leakage, according to a report from Taiwan Saturday.

Two local legislators were quoted as saying that the loss of water is equivalent to 5.7 times the daily supply capacity of the Feitsuei Reservoir, a major reservoir supplying most of the running water for the greater Taipei area.

At a press conference, opposition People First Party legislators Lee Hung-chun and Liu Wen-hsiung said that the cost of this leakage amounts to about 7 billion new Taiwan dollars (200 million U.S. dollars) per year. They urged speed replacement of water pipelines islandwide to put an end to excessive waste of an invaluable resource.

Statistics compiled by the Taiwan Water Company, Taiwan's sole water supplier, indicated that the company supplied some 2.9 billion cubic meters of water last year. Of this total, 700 million cubic meters, or 24.6 percent, was leakage.

Taiwan's annual rainfall averages about 2,500 mm, 2.6 times higher than the world average. This rainfall, however, is not conserved or used efficiently, with some 46 percent washing directly into the sea and 33.3 percent lost through evaporation.

As a result, Taiwan has been listed by the United Nations among regions described as "lacking water."

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