Reduce water intensity in the park and improve stability of water supply

1. Stabilize water supply

The annual rainfall in 2023 was close to 90% of the climate average, but the rainfall from February to April and November was relatively less. STSP worked in line with the Water Resource Agency and relevant units in advance and started various water-saving and scheduling measures from August, 2022. In August, 2023, STSP Drought Response Team was set up and 6 meetings were convened to launch the water meter inspection targeting high-volume water users to cooperate with Water Resource Agency's standards to achieve the 5% to 8% water conservation target. In addition, we also prioritized the use of reclaimed water and continue to promote efforts in source control, conservation, scheduling, and contingency planning to mitigate the impact of droughts.

Counseling of water conservation

To reduce the water consumption in the science park to solve the urgent water problems to meet the EIA requirements and to cooperate with the promotion of energy conservation and carbon reduction policies, the Bureau has actively engaged in the counseling of water saving and energy conservation. In 2023, we handled water conservation counseling for 5 park business units, and have completed counseling for 135 park business units so far since the implementation of the counseling service, with the water recovery rate in the area reaching approximately 88%. According to the survey on actual water conservation results, the total water conservation effect of the entire park was about 47.296 million tons/year, equivalent to a reduction of 7,378.23 metric tons CO2e a year.

Reclaimed Water for Drought Resistance at STSP

In the face of the challenges of extreme climate change and the widening gap between rainfall and drought, the situation of water shortage intensified in Tainan in 2023, making the injection of reclaimed water even more important to mitigate the impact on industry and people's livelihood. STSP Bureau actively encourages park manufacturers to give priority to the use of reclaimed water. Based on the reclaimed water resources strategy, we have planned two directions of reclaimed water use and water source exchange, making STSP the very first science park to use reclaimed water in Taiwan. Development and utilization of water resources are moving toward the direction of diversity and sustainability.

STSP has obtained support and assistance from multiple partners to recycle and convert the domestic and effluent in the park into high-quality reclaimed water for park use, setting a domestic model and reducing the pressure of traditional water source development. In the future, we will continue to work with Water Resources Agency, Construction and Planning Agency, and local governments to promote the use, exchange and diversified allocation of reclaimed water, enhance water resource management resilience, reducing reliance on tap water and achieving mutual prosperity for industry and the environment.

2. Water Consumption of park manufacturers

The park adopts a cap control of water consumption, and review of the manufacturers' water consumption is made on a rolling basis. The tap water consumption of the park in 2023 was 77.45678 million tons, and the intensity of tap water use dropped by 10% compared with 2022, making a consecutive annual decline.

The Bureau assists park businesses to understand their overall water use status. Based on the Water Risk Atlas of the World Resources Institute, it shows that Tainan Science Park and Kaohsiung Science Park belong to Low – Medium (1-2), indicating that the water intake of park businesses does not cause a major impact on the ecological environment.

Meanwhile, STSP strives to promote the sustainable use of reclaimed water resources in 2023 through substantial increase in revenue and expenditure reduction. The consumption of reclaimed water reached 14.14 million tons, approximately 38,600 tons/day. Combined with relevant energy-saving results, it is expected to reduce the consumption of water resources.

3. Water Consumption of STSP Bureau

We understand the importance of water resources, and STSP Bureau starts cherishing water by setting an example of promoting water conservation measures to improve the water consumption efficiency in all units and strengthen water management and water recovery to achieve the purpose of sustainable usage of water resources.

In 2021, STSP Bureau included the water consumption of Kaohsiung Administration Building. In 2022, all the water-consuming equipment has been changed to water-saving devices, achieving 100% installation rate of water-saving equipment. Tainan and Kaohsiung Administration Buildings reduced water consumption by 19.90% in 2023 compared with 2022, showing the effectiveness of strengthened water management.