Following is a question by the Hon Chan Yuen-han and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (May 12) :
Question:
Regarding the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as the Water Supplies Department has undertaken to supply water in compliance with the international standards for potable water recommended by the World Health Organisation, whether the quality of Dongjiang water for use in Hong Kong, including its content levels of bacteria, mercury and other chemical compositions etc., has been improved as a result of the commissioning of concealed piping; if so, of the details;
(b) whether the water treatment costs required to upgrade the current quality of Dongjiang water to meet the above standards is more costly or otherwise compared to those before the commissioning of concealed piping, and the difference in the amounts thereof;
(c) whether it will consider discussing with the Guangdong provincial authority the setting up of a "Dongjiang water savings account", so that when the demand of Dongjiang water by Hong Kong is lower than the supply volume stipulated in the water supply agreement, the difference of the volumes concerned will be recorded in that account and be supplied to Hong Kong in future as necessary, so as to avoid wasting water; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d) as there are frequent changes in the Dongjiang River course, whether it knows the frequency of inspection on the flow direction of the rivers near Taiyuan pumping station carried out by the Guangdong provincial authorities, as well as the date of the last inspection?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Since the full commissioning of the Dongjiang-Shenzhen closed aqueduct in June 2003, the quality of Dongjiang water as monitored and received at the Muk Wu Pumping Station has witnessed significant improvement. Data on bacteriological quality, mercury and other chemicals in the raw water, before and after the commissioning of the closed aqueduct are shown in annex to illustrate the improvements.
Full set of all the monitored parameters on Dongjiang water received at Muk Wu Pumping Station from 1 October 2002 to 30 September 2003 is available at WSD's web site "www.wsd.gov.hk". The updated data for 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 will be published in end May/early June 2004.
(b) An annual saving of approximately HK$9M in water treatment costs can be achieved after the commissioning of the closed aqueduct.
(c) At present, the Government would only draw the required quantity of Dongjiang Water according to actual demand and there is no discharge of any surplus quantity as such. We are contractually bound to pay for the full amount of the agreed supply even though the actual consumption may be lower. We would continue to negotiate for greater flexibility in the supply quantity, taking account of our actual demand and mission on water conservation.
(d) The Environmental Protection Bureau of Guangdong undertakes bimonthly monitoring in the vicinity of the Tai Yuen Pumping Station since July 2003 and the last monitoring was conducted in March this year. The results indicate that the water quality complies with the national standard. The 2003 data provided to WSD was uploaded to WSD's website on 26 March 2004.
Ends/Wednesday, May 12, 2004
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