CONFIDENTIAL
22
CHAPTER 3
WATER QUALITY AND SEWERAGE
3.1
Over 2 million tonnes
wastewaters are generated daily
Kong.
of
sew age and industrial
by the community in Hong
This huge volume would fill 1,000 Olympic-size
swimming pools, daily.
3.2
All this wastewater is discharged by one route or
another into the sea.
Roughly 10% receives biological
treatment before discharge, 40% receives partial treatment
and is discharged offshore through marine outfalls, and the
remaining 50% enters the sea,
close to the shore, without
any treat ment whatsoever.
quality of ou r inshore waters and inland
as the population and
3.3
The
watercourses
has
led
deteriorated
industrial activity in Hong Kong have increased. This has
to the closure of so me six beaches, red tides,
contaminated seafood, and visual pollution. Cooling water
contaminated, and anchorage buoys and
and deterioration of
intakes ha ve been
boats suffer accelerated corrosion
surface coatings.
3.4
There is also a growing
chemica ls
in
marine se di ments in
accu mu lation of toxic
waters adjacent to
industrial
areas;
and even on land sew age
sometimes
overflows from drains.
3.5
There are ma ny
quality of our
other factors that determine the
inshore waters. There are many areas where
of the sea is constrained, such as the
natural bays in Tolo Harbour, Deep Bay, Port Shelter, Junk
the
circu lation
CONFIDENTIAL