Water Supply in Hong Kong
· Dongxiang is Hong Kong's major source of water, and will meet all future increase in demand
· In 1960, the agreement was reached with the Guangdong water supply companies whereby Hong Kong would purchase 23 million cubic meters of water each year
· The supply from Guangdong had an agreement under the latest agreement was increased to 810 million cubic meters a year in 2003
· This will continue to increase in 10 million cubic meters per year up to 2004, beyond which the annual supply quantity will be subject to further review
· The designed maximum capacity of the supply system is 1.1 billion cubic meters per year
· The supply contract, costing HK$2 billion a year, has helped the city's economy grow without the interruption of water shortage
· More than 70% of Hong Kong's water is used by industry and services, particularly the textile, metal-working and electronics sectors in manufacturing, and hotels and restaurants in services
· The Water Supplies Department is responsible to collect, store and purify water to the people of Hong Kong, and provide new resources and installations to maintain a happy standard of water supply. The department also supplies seawater for flushing toilets.
· In 1960 Hong Kong began importing water from outside its borders. Water imports from the Pearl River increased largely from 23 million cubic meter a year under a 1960 agreement until a fifth agreement signed in 1989 which allowed for up to 1100 million cubic meter per year
· Water in Hong Kong from the tap is generally considered safe to drink
· The water in Hong Kong is filtered through a system which matches that of the US and Western European countries
· Hong Kong would have been suffering a shortage if it wasn’t for Guangdong and China
· Hong Kong has little water because it doesn’t rain as much as other countries and Hong Kong is a small country and can’t get help from its residents so it has to go get it from its only bordered country China.
By Shamoon
