Macao to reduce 29% of water supply from mainland in 2025

MACAO, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The ultimate aim of Macao Special Administrative Region's (SAR) water saving policy is to decrease Macao's reliance on the water from the Chinese mainland by 22.7 million cubic meters by 2025, the local Macao Post Daily reported Tuesday.

The newspaper quoted Wong Man Tou, a division chief of the Macao Maritime Administration, as saying that the amount represented 29 percent of the water supplied by the mainland to Macao last year.

Wong, who made the announcement Monday in a press briefing on a water conservation consultation paper at Maritime Administration, said that the SAR government would gradually decrease the amount of water supplied to Macao from the mainland, aiming at reducing the amount received by 11 percent by 2015, and by 20.3 percent by 2020.

To encourage individuals and entities to save water, the SAR government plans to adjust the water pricing system based on a household's consumption of water.

"The government will increase the water price for households or entities which consume a higher amount of water," Wong said, adding that though giving an assurance that the price rearrangement would have little impact on residents with "normal" levels of water consumption.