Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) Director Susana Wong Soi Man said yesterday that after the scheduled start of the supply of reclaimed water, to be used for the flushing of toilets and watering plants, to Coloane’s sprawling Seac Pai Van public housing neighbourhood and the University of Macau (UM) campus early next year, their water bills are expected to drop because the unit price of reclaimed water will be lower than that of tap water.
Wong made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of her bureau’s annual event aiming to raise residents’ awareness of saving water, which was held in Flora Garden and the adjacent Guia Hill yesterday afternoon.
According to Wikipedia, water reclamation, aka wastewater reuse or water recycling, is the process of converting municipal wastewater (sewage) into water that can be reused for a variety of purposes, such as the flushing of toilets, watering plants, road cleaning, car washing, and firefighting. Such water is also known as reclaimed water.
The use of reclaimed water aims to save tap water consumption.
According to the DSAMA website, reclaimed water in Macau will be used for two purposes first, namely the flushing of toilets and watering plants, while reclaimed water will only be extended to more purposes after “the city’s respective technology gets more developed and the necessary conditions are met”.
The Seac Pai Van public housing estate and the UM campus will be the first two areas in Macau where reclaimed water will be supplied to in the future.
The UM’s current campus is situated in a one-square-kilometre area of Zhuhai City’s Hengqin island that is under the Macau Special Administrative Region’s (MSAR) direct jurisdiction, i.e., Macau’s laws and regulations fully apply there.
Construction of Macau’s first treatment plant for wastewater reuse, located in Coloane, got off the ground in October last year. After its completion and operational start, Macau will be able to start generating reclaimed water.
The city’s first reclaimed-water plant will be located next to the Coloane Wastewater Treatment Plant near Concórdia Industrial Park.
The reclaimed-water plant is being constructed in two phases.
8,000 households to benefit
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Wong stressed that with the aim of conserving water resources, her bureau has been working on launching the use of reclaimed water for non-potable purposes including the flushing of toilets and watering plants.
Wong underlined that the government expects the construction of the first phase of the reclaimed-water plant in Coloane to be completed early next year when the plant will be able to start supplying reclaimed water to the Seac Pai Van public housing neighbourhood, benefitting about 8,000 households, and the UM campus, where reclaimed-water pipes have been installed.
The DSAMA website says that reclaimed water will only be supplied to newly developed districts where reclaimed-water pipes have been or will be installed, because the city’s older neighbourhoods “lack the necessary space and conditions” for the installation of such pipes.
Wong pointed out yesterday that once Macau’s generation and supply of reclaimed water commences, households in the Seac Pai Van public housing buildings cannot opt to continue using tap water for the flushing of toilets because pipes used for carrying reclaimed water were already installed in the buildings and are connected to toilets in bathrooms.
Wong said that while the unit price of reclaimed water is still yet to be announced, it will “certainly” be lower than that of tap water, because of which, she said, the university and the Seac Pai Van public housing households are expected to have lower water bills after reclaimed water is supplied to there.
After the second phase of the reclaimed-water plant in Coloane is completed in the future, according to the DSAMA website, it will start supplying reclaimed water to properties in Cotai. While the plant’s first-phase construction is now scheduled to be completed early next year, the government currently does not have an exact timetable as to when the second-phase construction is completed.
In addition to the one in Coloane, according to the DSAMA website, the government will build another reclaimed-water plant, on a plot on the man-made island where the Macau checkpoint of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) is located. After the completion of the plant’s construction, for which the government currently also does not have a schedule, it will start supplying reclaimed water to properties on the HZMB man-made island, in the Zone A and Zone B land reclamation areas, and on Plot P in the peninsula’s Areia Preta district.
2.2 billion people globally without access to safe water
Meanwhile, delivering a speech at the beginning of yesterday’s water-saving event, Wong noted that 2.2 billion people in the world, or nearly 28 percent of the global population, do not have access to safe drinking water.
In contrast, Wong said, people in Macau can enjoy “unlimited” clean drinking water whenever they simply turn on a tap, adding that such convenience causes Macau residents in general to mistakenly assume that water resources are unlimited, thereby forgetting their preciousness.
Wong noted that Macau can enjoy sufficient tap water thanks to the mainland authorities’ special measures.
This year is the ninth time that the bureau has held the one-day event. Previously, the event was held on the peninsula’s Guia Hill every year, before it was held in the recreational and sitting-out area on the north-western Taipa waterfront outside the sprawling Ocean Gardens residential estate last year for the first time. This time, the event returned to Guia Hill yesterday, but also covering the adjacent Flora Garden for the first time.
Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) Director Susana Wong Soi Man delivers a speech at the start of yesterday’s event in Flora Garden aiming to raise residents’ awareness of saving water. – Photo: Tony Wong
