Taiwan’s tough drought measures cut home water supply two days a week, curb industry use
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From Tuesday, four counties and cities – including Taichung and Changhua in central Taiwan, Miaoli in the west and part of Hsinchu in the north – became the first local areas to have their water supply suspended two days a week, according to the island’s economics minister Wang Mei-hua.
“Because of the drought, the government authorities need to impose water rationing measures in those areas,” Wang said, adding that the water restrictions would affect about 1.06 million residents in the drought-stricken zones.
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But she said some science parks and other industrial sites, including those in Taichung and Hsinchu which have access to groundwater or a specially allocated supply, would be spared from the rationing for now, but they must cut consumption by 15 per cent.
Economics ministry officials said the government would not rule out imposing water rationing in other parts of the island, including Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, if drought conditions did not improve.