PUBLIC UTILITIES AND PUBLIC WORKS
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the hours of supply may have to go on being imposed every dry
season.
The Government is constantly exploring every available means of increasing water supplies, including the possibility of damming sea inlets and turning them into fresh water lakes. Preliminary surveys and tests were commenced in 1958 at Plover Cove and Hebe Haven in the northern New Territories. Recent research into salt water distillation was also examined; this method has hitherto been precluded as a solution to Hong Kong's water problems because of the very high cost of producing comparatively small quantities of fresh water. New methods show promise of produc- ing fresh water at a cost which might make it an acceptable method of producing at least part of the Colony's total supply.
Of the maximum possible storage only 2,362,000,000 gallons can be held on the Island, and with the completion of the reservoir at Tai Lam Chung approximately one half of the Island's con- sumption is supplied from the New Territories. The water is conveyed across the harbour in two 21-inch diameter concrete-lined steel submarine pipes. On account of the hilly nature of the Island a large proportion of the water has to be pumped, and in some areas repumped, necessitating numerous pumping stations and service reservoirs.
In addition to these works, Hong Kong has a system of catch- waters 35 miles long, and when the Tai Lam Chung Scheme is complete the total length will be about 50 miles. These channels run along the mid-levels of various hillsides, intercepting streams and water courses and conveying their water into storage reser- voirs. The water supply to the Island and the urban areas of Kowloon is filtered and sterilized by chemical treatment, and a high standard of purity is maintained. Practically all the water is supplied to consumers through meters, at an average cost of 80 cents (one shilling) per 1,000 gallons. Some of the poorer districts are at present provided with water through standpipes, free of charge.
At the beginning of 1958 there was a ten-hour supply each day, but because of the very dry weather the hours were reduced to eight a day on 27th January. The rainfall for the first quarter was almost twice the average, and a ten-hour supply was restored on 2nd April. The rainfall for April, May, June and the first half