The Hong Kong SAR Government’s Water Supplies Department oversees and manages all aspects of sourcing and maintaining supplies of fresh and salt water throughout the territory. Every day, it pumps 2.56 million cubic metres of fresh water to meet the needs of 7.19 million people. Endeavour Magazine spoke to the dedicated team to find out how they run this massive, complex operaon to provide the people of Hong Kong with this essenal commodity. WRITTEN BY DAISY JONES IN HOT WATER www.lilegatepublishing.com WATER SUPPLIES DEPARTMENT OF HONG KONG WWW.WSD.GOV.HK 852 2824 5000
Transcript
The Hong Kong SAR Government’s Water Supplies Department oversees and manages all aspects of sourcing and maintaining supplies of fresh and salt water throughout the territory. Every day, it pumps 2.56 million cubic metres of fresh water to meet the needs of 7.19 million people. Endeavour Magazine spoke to the dedicated team to find out how they run this massive, complex operation to provide the people of Hong Kong with this essential commodity.
WRITTEN BY DAISY JONES
IN HOT WATER
www.littlegatepublishing.com
WATER SUPPLIES DEPARTMENT OF HONG KONGWWW.WSD.GOV.HK
852 2824 5000
WATER SUPPLIES DEPARTMENT OF HONG KONG
The Water Supplies Department (WSD) also utilises seawater, which is treated and piped to toilet flushing systems. Seawater flushing is generally found in the majority of residential,
commercial and industrial buildings throughout Hong Kong, offering a simple solution that lowers the overall need for fresh water. The WSD is also responsible for initiating and monitoring the development of new water sources, based on methods like desalination, water recycling and rainwater harvesting.
The WSD recognises that water underpins the vitality and prosperity of Hong Kong and dedicates itself to meeting customer expectations and implementing strong and effective policies to promote water conservation, closely working with all stakeholders to optimise supplies so that Hong Kong’s water remains secure and of high quality now and in the future. With the encroaching threat of climate change, this is becoming increasingly important.
Anticipated population increases and economic development mean that fresh water demand will likely rise to over 1,100 million cubic metres by 2030 – up from 933mcm in 2013. In 2013, 26.5% of the WSD’s water supply came from local catchment water collection, 50.5% from water resources imported from DongJiang in China, and 23% from seawater for flushing. However, climate change will lead to more frequent incidents of extreme weather consequences. This could put Hong Kong’s water security at risk, as an increase in rainfall intensity and a reduced number of rainy days will adversely affect the local rainwater yield. Over the last decade, the WSD has seen an even greater fluctuating trend in the local yield, signalling the impact of climate change on our local water resources. Continued population growth and extreme drought conditions in China will lead to greater competition for Dongjiang water resources among the various cities of Guangdong Province, and this will become a real challenge for Hong Kong.
Water conservation is something that Director of Water Supplies, LAM Tin Sing is highly focused on,
“Today, around the world we are all facing the spectre of climate change, a challenge for mankind perhaps like no other in history. Our department is actively taking prudent and effective measures to ensure that Hong Kong’s water supply can meet the demands of the growing commercial sector as well as consumers. To this end, we are actively expanding the use of cutting-edge technologies to ensure secure sources of water and maximised water efficiency. We are also initiating outreach programmes in the community to lower daily individual water consumption and discovering novel and cost-effective ways to ensure that we achieve our aim of water conservation and security to benefit everyone in Hong Kong now and in the future.”
With such a high level of commitment to protecting the environment, the New Works Branch of the department is tasked with planning, designing and building waterworks to ensure that all impacts to the environment will be minimised. The New Works Branch follows a strict protocol, after being awarded the Environmental Management System ISO140001: 2004 certification in 2013. In addition, the WSD is working on a number of strategies to reduce the impact of climate change including exploiting new water resources, promoting water conservation and enhancing water efficiency.
NEW RESOURCESPlanning and investigation studies have already begun into the
construction of a desalination plant using advanced reverse osmosis technology in Tseung Kwan O, which is projected to become operational by 2020 and designed to meet 5-10% of total fresh
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WATER SUPPLIES DEPARTMENT OF HONG KONG
Hong Kong’s fresh water supplies come primarily from its expansive hillside catchments along with considerable reserves piped in from Dongjiang in southern China. After strict water testing and treatment to meet global safety standards, this water is stored in service reservoirs for distribution to homes and commercial developments.
Meters & Measurements Ltd.13-B Yam Tze Comm Bldg, 23 Thomson Rd, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Over the past 26 years Meters & Measurements Ltd has partnered with the world’s leading technology companies in the fields of water metering, data collection and water
leak detection to bring the latest innovative products to our customers in Hong Kong and Macau.
Elster Water designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of water metering solutions, which includes high accuracy mechanical meters, fully electronic water meters and Smart
metering solutions for residential, commercial and industrial sectors.
Technolog has over 30 years’ experience in the design and manufacture of battery
powered data loggers and electronic pressure controllers for water distribution networks.
GUTERMANN are dedicated to tackling the worldwide problem
of water loss in urban water infrastructure.
WATER SUPPLIES DEPARTMENT OF HONG KONG
water demand in the territory. The WSD is also looking into viable techniques to expand grey water reuse and rainwater harvesting.
WATER CONSERVATIONThe WSD’s strategy for teaching Hong Kong citizens about
water conservation starts with education programmes in schools, but the “Let’s Save 10L Water” campaign and the free distribution of flow controllers for taps reach the public at large. These flow controllers reduce the flow from taps by 20%, saving around 2 litres per minute, and are now installed in over 115,000 households, with a further 100,000 water flow controllers installed in schools and Government buildings.
WATER EFFICIENCYThe WSD’s 15-year phased programme of replacing and
rehabilitating 3,000km of water mains will be completed this year, dovetailing with a technology-based smart water network strategy aimed at reducing capital expenditures, curtailing road construction works and easing traffic disruption. Furthermore, both the Sha Tin and Tai Po Water Treatment Works are currently in the planning and construction stages of major capacity increases, which will help
ensure adequate capacity to produce the highest levels of potable water for the public. Once its facilities upgrade is completed, in two phases, the Tai Po Water Treatment Works will see its capacity increase from 250,000 to 800,000 cubic metres per day at a total investment cost of HK$5.6 billion. Phase one has been completed and the Works is now processing 400,000 cubic metres of water per day. Phase two began in 2013 will see an eventual capacity increase to 800,000 cubic metres per day by its commissioning date in 2017. The in situ re-provisioning of the Sha Tin facility has begun and will be commissioned sometime by the 2020s.
With plans on such a great scale, it takes a talented and highly dedicated workforce of around 4,400 staff members to run the WSD’s operations. In-depth training schemes, inter-branch seminars and motivation schemes all work towards keeping staff motivated and to make sure that the department continues meeting and exceeding the customer needs. The WSD also maintains a consistently low workplace accident rate on water works contracts, well below Government safety limits.
As well as maintaining good relationships with its staff and between departments, the department works closely with the Water Resources Department of Guangdong Province. Water
WATER SUPPLIES DEPARTMENT OF HONG KONG
imported from Dongjiang, Guangdong generally accounts for 70-80% of total fresh water consumption in Hong Kong. The WSD balances the monthly amount of water drawn in from Guangdong against local seasonal rainfall amounts to optimise local resources as much as possible. Hong Kong benefits greatly from the strong and amicable partnership nurtured between Hong Kong and Guangdong water officials and the WSD works to maintain a high degree of transparency when dealing in water transfer operations.
The department understands that it serves the people and businesses of Hong Kong and this is a responsibility it takes very seriously. Looking ahead, it will contribute towards increasing the land supply for development in Hong Kong by offering to relocate service reservoirs to caverns and dispose of surplus staff quarters for more gainful use, strengthen its research and development team and activities and collaborate with other local and international parties to stay informed about the very latest developments in the water industry. The WSD’s vision of excelling in satisfying customers’ needs for the provision of quality water services may become more difficult over the coming years, but its dedication cannot be doubted. With climate change coming, Hong Kong might be in hot water, but the WSD are one step ahead.
“Today, around the world we are all facing the spectre of climate change, a challenge for mankind perhaps like no other in history.”
