Port of Hualien, TIPC took 1st place honors in the Government Organization Category in the 2021 Water Conservation Outstanding Performance Awards sponsored by the MOEA’s Water Resources Agency (WRA). The awards ceremony hosted on March 22nd by WRA Director-General Dr. Chien-hsin Lai gave public recognition to award recipients and their accomplishments in water conservation to encourage organizations and companies nationwide to do more to conserve the nation’s water resources. Port of Hualien registered for the competition in August 2021 under the title “Smart Ports Shine – The Smart Allocation and Application of Captured Runoff Water at Port of Hualien”. The rigorous selection process, including a documents review, site review, and final vote from the MOEA selection committee, gave consistent confirmation that the runoff water recovery and utilization scheme implemented at the Port of Hualien not only positively impacts water resource utilization but also promotes the rationalization of water usage. Based on this, Port of Hualien was honored with the top award in the 2021 Water Conservation Outstanding Performance Awards (Government Organization Category) and a cash prize of NT$50,000. To help give maximum exposure to the award-winning efforts, prior to the awards ceremony, the WRA sent a film crew to each winning organization, creating a documentary highlighting the water conservation accomplishments of each intended to provide a reference for others to emulate. Port of Hualien CEO Pai-feng Wang remarked that his port’s location along Taiwan’s ecologically blessed East Coast makes his organization particularly sensitive to the importance of pursuing environmentally sustainable development. In recent years, leveraging both its unique environmental setting and the “green port” priorities of MOTC and TIPC, Port of Hualien has launched a wide-ranging series of environmental protection and energy conservation initiatives. Since beginning work on its rain runoff collection and distribution system in 1998, Port of Hualien has installed 12 collection tanks to date. In fact, the port was recognized in 2015 with the top prize in the Executive Yuan’s Innovative Applications Awards for its “Water Resource Bank: Water Reuse Program” project. Work has proceeded apace on expanding this system, with a “rolling wave planning” approach employed to make the appropriate adjustments necessary to maximize water reutilization efficacy. Furthermore, the installation of a fiber-optic backbone at the port in 2020 in combination with Chunghwa Telecom technical support added the capability to both automatically and remotely control system functions via hardwired or Wi-Fi connections. This has maximized the port’s intelligent use of water resources within the runoff collection and distribution system, optimizing use of runoff water, personnel, and electric power resources; reducing the port’s consumption of public utility water by nearly 170,000mt; and saving the port NT$2 million in water fees each year. In addition, the system has effectively reduced the port’s carbon emission footprint by 25,565kg per year. Port of Hualien’s runoff collection and distribution system makes optimal use of available, local resources to effectively conserve public water resources. The WRA award for Water Conservation Outstanding Performance is only the beginning, as the Port of Hualien is committed to further achieving green-port objectives and operating through the long-term as a sustainable port operation. Please contact Port of Hualien’s Health and Safety Department Manager Chang for more information or to schedule a site visit at (03) 832-5131 ext. 2521. Provided by:Occupational Health & Safety Dept., Port of Hualien, TIPC Contact Person:Kuo-hsien Chang Telephone No.:03-8325131#2521 E-mail Address:kschang@twport.com.tw