Ministry of Economic Affairs: Penghu Fireworks Festival sees a surge of visitors - ensuring no water shortage

Penghu is currently in the peak summer tourism season from July to September, and especially during the Fireworks Festival, visitors are expected to pour in in large numbers, bringing a huge influx of tourists to Penghu during the epidemic prevention period. Taking the Magong area as an example, normal water usage is about 24,000 to 26,000 tons per day. On the 6th, the first day the Fireworks Festival officially began, it had already increased to 28,000 tons per day. To ensure a stable water supply, Taiwan Water Corporation has already responded in advance to the increased water demand from tourism, with seawater desalination supply reaching 17,000 tons per day, together with 7,000 tons per day from various reservoirs and 4000 tons per day from groundwater, ensuring normal water supply. The Water Resources Agency and Taiwan Water Corporation are also continuously and closely monitoring water usage to maintain stable water supply for peak demand during the Penghu Fireworks Festival.

The three main reservoirs in the Magong area of Penghu - Chenggong, Xingren, and Dongwei - still have storage rates above 40 percent to date, with total storage of about 930,000 tons. In addition, the Magong No. 1 and No. 2 seawater desalination plants still have additional standby water supply capacity, totaling about 7,000 tons per day, which can be used to increase supply in the short term according to water demand if necessary. Therefore, the overall short-term maximum supply capacity of the Magong area's water supply system reaches more than 35,000 tons per day, enough to meet Penghu's large water demand for summer tourism this year.

The Water Resources Agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs further explained that, in response to future water demand for industrial and tourism development in the Penghu area, the Executive Yuan has approved the construction of three additional desalination plants: the 6,000-ton second phase of the Magong No. 2 seawater desalination plant, the 900-ton Qimei seawater desalination plant, and the 600-ton Jibei seawater desalination plant. Taiwan Water Corporation is currently handling the contracting and tendering process. The second phase of the Magong No. 2 seawater desalination plant could be completed as early as 2022, and the Qimei and Jibei seawater desalination plants in 2023, which will help make overall water source allocation and supply in the Penghu area more stable and secure.