Industry News
2026-10-14In Taiwan, China, Huimin Enterprise (6971) has won the "Chiayi County Expanded County-Governed Reclaimed Water Plant Construction-Transfer-Operate Project," with a total contract construction cost of approximately NT$16.9亿 (tax included), adopting the BTO (Build-Transfer-Operate) model, with a combined construction and concession period of approximately 18年3 months, including a 15年 operating period. After completion, it can supply 5400 tons of Reclaimed Water per day to the Southern Taiwan Science Park Chiayi Park, and the advanced treatment unit is planned to include enhanced urea removal measures to meet the water quality requirements of high-tech industries such as semiconductors.
I. Project Overview: NT$16.9亿, a long-term contract of 18年3 months
The project is located in Puzi City, Chiayi County, and is executed by Huijia Water, a special-purpose company established through investment by Huimin Enterprise. The contract scope covers the water intake system, functional upgrade of the sewage treatment system, Reclaimed Water treatment system, water transmission system, as well as the advanced treatment facility system in the Southern Taiwan Science Park Chiayi Park; after construction is completed, the competent authority shall pay the construction cost in a lump sum or in installments according to the contract and obtain ownership.
From the contract structure, this is a typical long-cycle, operation-heavy project: the combined construction and concession period is approximately 18年3 months, of which the operating period is as long as 15年. For the contractor, revenue predictability is stronger than that of an EPC turnkey contract, but the long-term impact of equipment selection and energy consumption control is amplified—a single design decision will run through fifteen years of operating costs.
II. Why Reclaimed Water: The rigid water supply demand brought by semiconductor fab expansion
Huimin Enterprise stated that as leading semiconductor companies continue to expand fabs, the demand for stable and diversified industrial water supply rises simultaneously, and Reclaimed Water is gradually becoming one of the important water sources supporting the development of the technology industry. This is also the fundamental driver behind the intensive launch of Reclaimed Water projects in Taiwan, China in recent years: high-tech parks are extremely sensitive to water supply reliability, while the fluctuation risk of traditional water sources during dry seasons is difficult to bear.
Through the Chiayi Reclaimed Water Plant project, the company will further reclaim and treat the effluent after sewage treatment, and combine water transmission and advanced treatment facilities to connect a complete water circulation chain. From a system perspective, the value of such projects lies not in the scale of a single plant, but in linking the four stages of "municipal sewage—Reclaimed Water plant—park dedicated pipeline—advanced treatment" into a controllable and measurable supply chain.
III. Technical Highlights: Enhanced Urea Removal Is a Key Link
When Reclaimed Water enters semiconductor manufacturing processes, the water quality threshold is far higher than that for industrial cooling or municipal miscellaneous use. In this project, enhanced urea removal measures are installed in the advanced treatment unit to further strengthen the overall water quality assurance mechanism and ensure that the Reclaimed Water quality meets the water requirements of high-tech industries.
The reason urea becomes a key indicator is that its molecular weight is small and it is difficult for conventional Reverse Osmosis membranes to fully reject it. Once it enters an ultrapure water system, it will affect the stability of process water quality and the load of subsequent treatment units. Therefore, Reclaimed Water systems for electronic-grade water usually need to be equipped with targeted urea decomposition or oxidation units in addition to conventional Ultrafiltration + Reverse Osmosis, forming multi-stage assurance.
This technical route also has reference value for peers in the mainland. As industrial parks in many parts of the country promote Reclaimed Water substitution, industries such as electronics, display panels, and new energy materials are also raising their water quality requirements, and the process design of Reclaimed Water plants is shifting from "compliance reuse" to "customization according to user water quality."
IV. Low-Carbon Design: Running from Construction Period Through Operation Period
The project incorporates energy saving and carbon reduction into design and operation planning, forming a relatively complete closed loop:
- Construction period—introduce energy-saving equipment and low-carbon design, including adding variable frequency drives to the influent pumps of the sewage plant, Sludge Drying and reduction equipment, and low-energy RO membranes; conduct carbon reduction assessments during the design stage and introduce green construction methods.
- Operation period—plan to promote carbon footprint inventory and carbon label application for Reclaimed Water service products, together with measures such as electric official vehicles, electric motorcycles, and self-generated self-consumed solar photovoltaics.
Among these, the item "carbon footprint inventory of Reclaimed Water service products" deserves attention. The carbon footprint accounting of Reclaimed Water essentially allocates the energy consumption, chemical consumption, and transportation energy consumption of the sewage treatment process to each unit of water supplied. Once a disclosable carbon label is formed, Reclaimed Water can convert environmental externalities into a quantifiable competitive advantage in comparison with tap water and self-supplied well water.
V. Market Signal: Reclaimed Water Projects Are Forming Continuous Orders
Hui Min Enterprise stated that winning the Chiayi County Expanded County Seat Reclaimed Water Plant project this time is another major milestone following its acquisition of the Tainan Rende Reclaimed Water Plant last year. Consecutive wins mean that the company's engineering experience, operational capability, and financing structure in the reclaimed water field have been recognized by the contracting authority, and also indicate that the reclaimed water market in Taiwan, China has entered a stage of regular project releases.
From a broader perspective, this is consistent with global trends. In recent years, the growth poles of the industrial reclaimed water market have been concentrated in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the western United States, with electronics and data centers being the two types of users with the strongest demand. In terms of reclaimed water unit prices, some regions have already achieved parity with or even lower prices than tap water, and the economics are shifting from policy-driven to market-driven.
VI. Industry Observation: Three Transferable Lessons
- Use contracts to lock in long-term operational responsibility—Under the BTO model, the builder bears operating costs during the 15年 operating period, so the energy-saving orientation of design and equipment selection has intrinsic motivation, avoiding the distorted incentive of "low-price winning bid, high-consumption operation."
- Design the process in reverse based on user water quality—First clarify the water quality red lines of the end user (semiconductor), then work backward to determine process configuration and redundancy design. This is more efficient than the "build the plant first, then find users" model.
- Make carbon management a product attribute—Carbon footprint accounting and carbon labeling applications turn reclaimed water from a homogenized public service into a differentiable green product, creating conditions for subsequent pricing and green procurement.
Industry insiders believe that Taiwan, China's practices in the semiconductor reclaimed water field have direct reference value for the mainland's ongoing industrial park reclaimed water substitution: at the park level, dedicated pipeline direct supply + advanced treatment + long-term concession is becoming the mainstream organizational approach in scenarios with high water quality requirements. Whoever can simultaneously do well in water quality assurance, energy consumption control, and long-term operation and maintenance will be able to occupy a leading position in this round of reclaimed water expansion.
TIANYI LIMITED has long been deeply engaged in the fields of wastewater treatment and reclaimed water reuse. Centering on three major directions—low-carbon processes, resource recovery, and smart operations—it provides full-chain services from solution design, equipment manufacturing, engineering construction, to operation management for municipal wastewater plants, industrial parks, and various water-using entities. With the goals of "stable compliance, energy saving and consumption reduction, and resource circulation," the company continues to help customers reduce operating costs and enhance system resilience in high-water-quality reuse scenarios.
Source: Compiled from MoneyDJ Wealth Management Network 2026年10月5日 reports, Hui Min Enterprise (6971) public statements, and public market information. Monetary amounts in the text are in New Taiwan Dollars.
