Mainland, Macao jointly tackle water supply issue

With little freshwater of its own, Macao depends on the Xijiang River as its major source of water supplies.

Lying on the west side of the Pearl River Delta, Macao has been enduring a major problem for years with water salinity due to the intake of sea water into parts of the Pearl River Delta during the winter.

In the winter of 2005, a severe water crisis hit Macao, with salinity levels hitting undrinkable levels.

"At that time, water was very salty and it was not drinkable. As such, we had to buy distilled water for cooking and drinking. In 2005, the water was still a little salty, but later, the salty taste was reduced."

"The tap water was really salty, and it couldn't be used for cooking or boiling. So, we had to buy a water dispenser for filtered water. But now we no longer need it since the water quality has gotten much better."

Responding to the emergency, the mainland's water affairs department diverted more than 700 million cubic metres of fresh water from the upper reaches of the Pearl River to the Zhuhai-Macao area.

The water diversion took 18-days to get to Macau, as it had to go through Guizhou, Guangxi and Guangdong before getting there.

But since then, the diversion project has continued to bring fresh water to Macao, keeping salinity levels at safe levels.

At the same time, a local pumping station and the Zhuyin Reservoir in neighboring Zhuhai are being used to supply fresh water to Macao, especially at times when rising tides push up salinity levels.

Wang Hangzhou is the head of the Zhuhai Water Group's water supply department.

"Even though we can't take water from the pumping stations, we do rely on the reservoir. Now that the Zhuyin Reservoir has come into use, the overall water supply for both Zhuhai and Macao has doubled. It can meet water supply demands for nearly two months through the reservoir."

Three raw water supply pipes have also been made operations, transferring fresh water from Guangdong into Macao.

This has already met Macau's water supply issues until at least 2020.

Huang Suiwei is the chief of Macao's Marine and Water Bureau.

"In future, we hope to perfect our water supply facilities through more cooperation between Guangdong and Macao. This includes the completion a 4th water supply pipe, which will ensure the water supply to Macao and lay a foundation to Macao's future development."

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