Power, water usage reaches peak level
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, July 25, 2013
The power and water consumption reached a peak level yesterday as the mercury continued to torment Shanghai.
The power usage spiked, reaching 28,020 megawatts as of 1:50pm yesterday - the highest in three years, according to the Shanghai Power Electric Co Ltd, the city's power supplier.
The city is close to witnessing the longest period of high temperatures, leading to a surge in electricity usage, the company said.
"The city can be assured of power supply as it has a total of 28,670 megawatts of electricity and another 1,900 megawatts of reserved electricity," the company said.
The previous record high power usage was in 2010 when it reached 26,210 megawatts.
Shopping malls, hotels and office buildings are being advised to cut back on the use of air conditioners temporarily, especially during peak hours to ensure power for households, the company said yesterday.
Some 2,000 electricians are on standby round-the-clock to deal with any malfunction.
The water usage also reached a record high of around 6.7 million tons, said Zhao Pingwei, director of the water supply department of the Shanghai Water Authority.
Downtown water supply is assured as tap water in downtown areas and Changxing and Hengsha islands is supplied by the Qingcaosha Reservoir.
About 70 percent of the city's population now gets its tap water from the Yangtze River, which is purified at the reservoir.
Water plants working overtime
However, some outskirt districts that are still receiving water from the Huangpu River may face problems, the water authority said.
All the water plants in the outskirt areas have been working overtime to assure sufficient water supply, Zhao added.
Neon lights in the city, except those around the Bund area, were turned off as the temperature climbed above 38 degrees yesterday.
The lights are switched on 30 minutes later than usual to save power, the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau said.
Meanwhile, a 40-minute blackout plunged several downtown shopping malls into darkness on Monday night.
Elevators were stuck and air-conditioning were off at some floors of the Jiuguang Department Store in Jing'an District and Hui Jin Department Store in Xuhui District at 6:30pm. Power supplies were restored at 7:10pm.
Technical failure in an electric cable in Xuhui District caused the blackout and the cause of the blackout is still under investigating.
Early last month, a similar technical failure in an electric cable underneath the Huangpu River caused a blackout that plunged many areas in downtown Shanghai into darkness.
It disabled three transformer substations at 8:37pm, affecting Jing'an, Putuo, Huangpu and Xuhui districts.
Apartment blocks, shops and several Metro stations on Line 2 were without power for more than 90 minutes.
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