Miaoli Invests 400 Million NTD in Water Plant to Secure Supply

The Taiwan Water Corporation (TWC) and the Miaoli County Government officially signed a memorandum of understanding today to jointly promote the "Tai'an Water Purification Plant Construction and Downstream Pipeline Project," with a total budget amounting to NT$470 million. This major water conservancy project is scheduled to officially commence in 2027, with completion targeted for 2030. With the expansion of the Hsinchu Science Park's Miaoli campus as well as local tourism and population growth, ensuring the stability and redundancy of water resource supply has become an urgent priority. Through this cooperation, both parties hope to establish a crucial new water supply hub that will not only meet the growing domestic water demand of the locality but also lay a solid infrastructural foundation for Miaoli's overall industrial development.

In recent years, the trend toward climate polarization in Taiwan has become increasingly evident, with the frequency and intensity of alternating droughts and floods rising, posing severe tests to local water resource dispatch and infrastructure. Miaoli features mountainous terrain with steep and rapid rivers, making the storage and development of water resources traditionally challenging. Combined with the influx of the technology industry and local economic transformation, water demand continues to rise. The planning of the Tai'an Water Purification Plant and its downstream pipeline project is a crucial strategic layout in response to future regional development. The TWC pointed out that constructing a new water purification plant will enable more efficient filtration and treatment of raw water, enhance the stability of output water quality, and play a critical backup and dispatching role during dry seasons or pipeline maintenance, thereby reducing the risks associated with a single water supply system.

According to the TWC's plan, the implementation period of this project spans four years, from 2027 to 2030. The project scope encompasses not only modern main buildings and purification equipment for the water purification plant but also large-scale downstream pipeline deployment. Once the water purification plant is completed, coupled with a dense and resilient water transmission network, clean water can be delivered more efficiently to all major water consumption areas in Miaoli. This investment demonstrates the government's long-term planning for local infrastructure. Through the introduction of modern engineering technology, water leakage rates during transmission will be reduced, the overall utilization efficiency of water resources will be enhanced, and the goal of sustainable water resource management will be realized.

Close cooperation between local governments and state-owned enterprises is a key factor in driving the success of large-scale public works. The Miaoli County Government plays an important role in administrative assistance and land coordination in this cooperation, ensuring that related operations such as project land acquisition, water rights applications, and traffic maintenance proceed smoothly. For the locality, the construction of the Tai'an Water Purification Plant not only resolves hidden concerns regarding water quality and quantity but also serves as one of the incentives to attract high-value-added industries. Water is the lifeblood of industrial development, and a guaranteed stable water supply can boost corporate confidence in investing in Miaoli, thereby creating more job opportunities and driving comprehensive local economic prosperity.

From the perspective of the national overall water resource strategy, strengthening regional connectivity and mitigating risks are core directions that the Water Resources Agency and the TWC have striven for in recent years. The addition of the Tai'an Water Purification Plant will make Miaoli's water supply network more multi-dimensional and flexible. When facing sudden natural disasters or droughts, the mutual support capabilities among various water purification plants and pipelines will be significantly enhanced, ensuring that domestic and industrial water supplies remain uninterrupted. This investment is not merely a local construction project, but an important piece in Taiwan's overall water resource resilience network, providing a substantial protective net for Taiwan to face the challenges of future climate change.

(Source: Central News Agency)