Recycling and reusing the wastewater processed by public sewage treatment plants will make the sewage infrastructure more efficient and provide stable water supplies to local industries, Premier Chang San-cheng said today at the Futian Water Recycling Center in Taichung City.
Under a program approved by the Executive Yuan in 2013, the Futian and Fengyuan treatment plants in Taichung are among six pilot facilities converting wastewater into usable water for industries.
"Sewage engineering can improve the quality of life and the environment. Aside from steering Taiwan toward the sustainable use of precious water resources, it can generate reclaimed water for industrial and business uses," Chang said.
Previously, the Futian plant was not able to treat all the water it received due to the soaring number of businesses and households in Greater Taichung connected to sewage pipes, said the Ministry of the Interior. In late 2012, the central government stepped in with subsidies and manpower to help the Taichung City government expand the plant. The expansion project doubled the plant's treatment capacity to 152,000 metric tons of water per day. Futian is now the largest wastewater treatment plant in the Taichung area and the third-largest secondary treatment facility in the nation.