PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
167
million gallons, indicating an annual compound growth in water consumption of 7.5 per cent. These figures include industrial as well as domestic supplies, but largely exclude flushing demand for sanitary purposes which is generally met by independent wells or sea water provided by the government.
To help cover the cost of the large capital works completed and in hand it was necessary during the year to raise the price of water. From 1st July water supplied for domestic and industrial uses was increased in price from $1 to $2 per thousand gallons; the price charged for water supplied to ocean-going ships and for building construction was raised from $3 to $5 per thousand gallons. A further factor which may check the growth in water consumption was a decision taken during 1965 to relax the restriction on the number of meters installed. This will make it possible for individual units in every new premises constructed to have a separate meter and will inevitably result in a considerable increase in the number of meters in service, which at the end of the year was 132,339.
The Shek Pik scheme, which is now fully operational, is being extended by the Tung Chung scheme and at the end of the year was 80 per cent complete. Under the Tung Chung scheme additional catchwaters and tunnels are being constructed on the north side of Lantau Island from where water will gravitate through a tunnel under the main east-west mountain range of the island to Shek Pik Reservoir for storage. This increased yield requires the instal- lation of siphons on the Shek Pik spillway to increase the overflow capacity during periods of heavy rain.
The conversion of the Plover Cove sea inlet in Tolo Harbour to a storage reservoir will add 30,500 million gallons of usable water to the Colony's present storage capacity of 16,816 million gallons. The sealing of Plover Cove, to be completed in October 1966, will be achieved by building two smaller dams and a main dam 14 miles long which will have a maximum height of 130 feet, of which 90 feet will be below sea level. The yield will be partially derived from the northern and southern slopes of the Pat Sin Range, the former being brought in by catchwaters and tunnels. In addition, water from Kwangtung province and from the River Indus can be pumped through twin 54-inch diameter pipes to a focal point at Tai Po Tau, while stream flows intercepted between