Looking back on 2021, Taiwan Water Corporation (TWC) had to provide stable water supply in conjunction with epidemic prevention and facing the centennial drought, which was not only a challenge to Taiwan due to climate change but also an ordeal to TWC since its establishment nearly half a century ago. The associates of the company had put concerted efforts to work day and night to complete inter-regional water supply dispatch, emergency seawater plant, drought-resistant deep wells, water extraction from construction sites, underflow water development and other drought-resistant water utilization projects. TWC also conducted emergency project procurement, project contracting and material dispatch besides planning the widespread distribution of livelihood water supply stations and strengthening the water quality control. In particular, the completion of Taoyuan-Hsinchu Backup Pipeline Project had saved Hsinchu Science Park from the crisis of water restrictions and reduced the impact on global technology industry. TWC survived the centennial drought until the rainfall in early June.

In the face of a year full of hardships and challenges, all our associates combated to turn crisis into opportunities to accomplish many difficult tasks. Specifically, after the centennial drought, the threat of extreme climate and unequal droughts and floods has become a norm. In response to the rapid change of water management environment, TWS has stipulated seven major tasks for future efforts and actively promoting the tasks as follows:

1. Accelerate the reduction of water leakage

It is a significant and persistent work for TWC to improve the water supply pipe network system, enhance the quality of water supply, reduce the waste of water resource and the water leakage rate. To speed up the water leakage reduction practice, the "Water Leakage Reduction Plan (2013-2022)" will be extended for 2 years in accordance to the instructions of Premier Su of the Executive Yuan: "Concentrate various resources and make every effort to shorten the process". From 2021 onwards, the original annual investment of about NTD 7 billion will be increased to NTD 8 billion, and the target of water leakage rate by the end of 2024 will also be revised down to 12%, which will be actively promoted. 

2. Establish the backup distribution piping

To strengthen the backup water resources, TWC promotes the "Backup Distribution Piping Restoration Project" through the deployment and utilization of regional water sources and water conservancy facilities, especially the "sole", "important" and "fragile" critical infrastructure. The original plan of the plan is from 2021 to 2025, with a total of 17 backup pipeline projects, with a total project value of about 14.5 billion yuan and a total length of about 81 kilometers. After completion, it can improve the stability of water supply, reduce the risk of broken pipes, stabilize the regional water supply and increase the flexibility of the regional water supply deployment. 

3. Modernization of water treatment plants

In order to ameliorate the problem of old facilities in some water treatment plants due to the age of construction, TWC has selected 25 water treatment plants that are in urge to be renovated, in which 11 plants are listed as short-term renovation target (before 2025) with an estimated investment of NTD 830 million to modernize the operation equipment of the water treatment plants. As of the other 14 plants, to which 10 plants are subject to demolition and reconstruction or new construction, and 4 plants are included in the “Water Treatment Plants Modernization (Preliminary Planning Project)” are listed as mid-term and long-term renovation target.

4. Increase the penetration rate of water supply

Currently, the penetration rate of water supply had reached 94.24% by the end of 2021, which is growingly difficult to increase it. The water supply pipeline extends to remote areas where users are scattered and scarce, and the pipeline utilization efficiency is low. Although it is not economical to carry out the pipeline extension project to increase the penetration rate of water supply, it is a necessary action for TWC to take care of the disadvantaged in remote areas and fulfill its corporate social responsibility. TWC will also continue to strive for the improvement of water supply pipeline extension project in areas with water scarcity and promote the use of tap water.     

5. Improve the quality of comprehensive services

Since August 28, 2020, TWC has promoted the improvement of comprehensive service quality by calibrating services according to user needs, collecting and analyzing the problems that users are most concerned about and complained about, so as to improve service model, processes and related management systems. Starting from 2022, in addition to continuing the issues of public concern collected from the company’s customer service centers, public suggestions, negative news and the State-owned Enterprise Commission, MOEA Customer Satisfaction Survey in 2020 and 2021, after reviewing the difficulties faced during the implementation period in 2021 and the effectiveness of promotions, TWC will focus on “slow repair of leaks”, “unstable water pressure and water quantity” and “turbidity in water” based on focused management, and actively reward innovative improvements by integrating the collective wisdom among the management offices of each district.

6. Promote the whole-process water safety plan

To improve the safety of water supply and achieve a comprehensive “From the Drainage Area to the Consumer" review to reduce risks, TWC has formulated the Water Safety Plans Implementation with reference to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Water Association (IWA) and has completed 25 water safety programs as of 2021. In the future, we will strive to accelerate the comprehensive promotion of WSP, integrating the Water Treatment Plants Operational Performance Evaluation & Enhancement (OPEE) and Alarm Data Transfer System (ADTS) to achieve the goal of modernizing the water supply system and gaining user trust.

7. Practicing to increase income and reduce expenditure

For the purpose of alleviating the financial difficulties before the water price can be adjusted reasonably, TWC will promote the practice of increasing income and reducing expenditure. On the “cost” side, in order to avoid imperiling the stability and safety of water supply, TWC will take the premise of “reasonable cost range” and improve various major cost items such as labor cost, power cost, mechanical repair cost, interest etc. to achieve effective “cost reduction” effect. On the “revenue” side, TWC will explore several ways to increase income. At this stage, TWC will focus on (a) reviewing idle or underutilized land and revitalizing assets and (b) building small hydroelectric power generator and using self-owned water treatment plants to set up solar power generation facilities to achieve the goal of “increasing income”.
Looking into the future, the water business environment is growingly difficult as the threat from nature never ceases, resulting that disaster prevention and response actions still demanding to be carried out continuously. TWS should hold forward-looking and progressive mindset to promote the seven major tasks and strengthen the resilience of water supply in order to create a water environment of “no water shortage and good water”, hoping to live up to the trust of shareholders, the expectations of society and the promises to customers.