The completion of the Tai Po Treatment Works is a milestone in the continuing efforts of the Government to provide drinking water to meet Hong Kong's rapid development.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the plant, the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, said today (November 27) that the Government had to devise a sustainable plan to ensure an adequate water supply to meet Hong Kong's long-term demand.
In the meantime, there are trial schemes on seawater desalination and reuse of treated sewage effluent for non-potable use at the Cable Car project at Ngong Ping in Lantau, she said.
Also officiating at the ceremony, the Director of Water Supplies, Mr CG Ko, said the design concepts of treatment works reflected the department's firm commitment to making the best use of available resources and technology to improve services while being conscious of the need to protect the environment.
"This new treatment works has been specifically designed to take advantage of the most advanced technologies, including clarification by dissolved air floatation units and removal of ammonia and manganese by primary aerated biological filters to produce high quality drinking water," Mr Ko said.
To conserve water, all wash-water used for regular cleaning of filters is recycled. Sludge is treated on-site so that the only waste product is the dry sludge-cake which is harmless to the environment, he said.
The Tai Po Water Treatment Works together with the Butterfly Valley Primary Service Reservoir in Kowloon and the 12km long treated water aqueduct connecting the two waterworks form the Tai Po Water Scheme. This is one of the biggest water supply projects that the Water Supplies Department (WSD) has undertaken in recent years.
The project cost is about $3.3 billion. The schemes provides treated water to the north-eastern part of the New Territories and the metropolitan area.
Works on the treatment works started in 1998 and were completed this June. It has an output capacity of 250 thousand cubic metres per day with provision for future expansion to 1.2 million cubic metres per day if demand goes up.
When it is extended to its ultimate capacity, it will be the second largest treatment works in the territory. With the added capacity of this new plant, WSD will have the opportunity to reprovision the 40-year-old Sha Tin Treatment Works to further improve the reliability of water supply.
End/Thursday, November 27, 2003
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