THE ENVIRONMENT
Domestic, commercial and industrial wastes are collectively referred to as municipal solid waste. By 2006, some 12 000 tonnes of municipal solid waste, an increase of some 40 per cent over the 1996 figure, will require collection and disposal each day. The government is tackling the solid waste problem through replacing the old facilities with high-standard new facilities together with improved waste management services. An integrated waste reduction plan aimed at reducing the amount of waste requiring landfill disposal is being formulated for implementation by early
1998.
Sewerage Master Plans
The Sewerage Master Plan studies identified works estimated to cost a total of $11.5 billion to bring the sewers up to standard in a phased improvement programme.
The main sewerage work in southern Hong Kong island is completed, with a treatment works in a rock cavern at Stanley, the first such works in Asia. Sewer connections to individual properties are still in progress. Improvements in several parts of Kowloon are well under way. Significant progress is being made in providing sewerage to the villages around Tolo Harbour in order to complement the improvements already made to the water quality by such schemes as the diversion of treated effluent from the Sha Tin and Tai Po sewage treatment works to Victoria Harbour and livestock waste controls.
Public sewers are being provided for 38 rural villages and areas that were previously unsewered. Under the Water Pollution Control (Sewerage) Regulation, the EPD requires house or development owners to connect their sewage to the public sewers. In 1997, 729 house owners responded and connected their premises to the new sewers. This intercepted sewage from 5 400 people for proper disposal. In all, 936 house owners were asked to connect to public sewers.
Treatment and Disposal for the Main Urban Area
Stonecutters Island Sewage Treatment Works was commissioned in June 1997 after a pilot plant study determined the most suitable chemical treatment and showed the effluent from the works can be disinfected. The study indicated that ultraviolet treatment and hypochlorination with subsequent dechlorination are the most promising options, based upon site-specific hazards, environmental impacts, land requirements and cost considerations. There will be significant improvements in water quality when the first stage of the Strategic Sewage Disposal Scheme, which will treat 70 per cent of the flows entering Victoria Harbour, is completed.
Sewage charges
The government has introduced sewage charges. All water users who discharge their sewage to public sewers pay a basic sewage charge and trades and industries whose effluent strength exceeds that of domestic sewage also pay a trade effluent surcharge. Only operation and maintenance costs are paid out of charges and the government continues to provide funds for capital costs. Household sewage charges are therefore modest at an average of $40 per person per year. A consultancy review of the trade effluent surcharge scheme was completed in April 1997. It concluded that the current scheme was fundamentally sound although it has pointed out areas where improvements could be made. The recommendations are being considered.
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