276 The Environment
Apart from HATS, the Government has spent a further $15.6 billion on other sewerage schemes since 1991 and will spend another $10 billion on schemes over the next five years. These include sewerage for rural villages. Under the Water Pollution Control (Sewerage) Regulation, the EPD is empowered to direct house. owners to connect their waste water pipes to new public sewers. In 2007, public sewers were laid to serve an estimated population of 1 600 people. Since the regulation came into force at the end of 1995, public sewers have been installed to serve 146 800 people.
Sewage Charges
All water users who discharge their sewage into public sewers have to pay a basic sewage charge in accordance with the polluter-pays principle. Also, 30 trades and industries whose effluent strength exceeds that of domestic sewage, need to pay a trade effluent surcharge to reflect the additional cost of treating their stronger effluent. These charges are used to recover the operation and maintenance costs of sewage collection, treatment, and disposal facilities, while the Government provides funds for construction.
The Government's capital investment in this sector is projected to amount to about $22 billion over the next 10 years to build HATS Stage 2A and other new sewage collection and treatment systems. In May 2007, the Government's proposals to gradually increase the sewage charge for handling domestic waste water over a 10-year time frame was approved by the legislature. This reflects the community's continued support of the polluter-pays principle and joint commitment in further enhancing the water environment. The average bill for domestic accounts would rise from $11 per month now, to $12 per month in 2008, and gradually to $27 per month in 10 years' time. Even after the projected increase Hong Kong's sewage charge will remain among the lowest of the major cities of developed economies.
Livestock Waste Pollution
The Waste Disposal Ordinance bans the keeping of livestock in new towns and environmentally sensitive areas. Where they are allowed, livestock farms must have proper waste treatment systems. The Government provides a free livestock waste collection service which collected about 35 697 tonnes of waste during the year.
From a public health and environmental protection standpoint, livestock farming in urbanised Hong Kong is not sustainable in the long term. To address the problem, the Government has introduced licence-surrender schemes to encourage poultry and pig farmers to cease poultry- and pig-keeping permanently. Livestock farmers are given ex gratia payments and the schemes are entirely voluntary. The poultry and pig schemes were introduced in 2005 and 2006 respectively and farmers had up to one year to decide whether or not to join them. The two schemes have effectively decreased the number of pig and poultry farms and reduced the pollution load on the environment.
Bathing Beaches
The Government has adopted strict standards for water quality control to protect the health of swimmers at bathing beaches. These standards indicate the pollution