100
A very rough estimate of the cost of this catchwater, made from the estimated length and area drained but without any surveys, is $1,500,000. However, not a great deal of this money could be spent this year as work could not be started until the Autumn, which would be as early as surveys and drawings could be com- pleted for the 1st Section.
The Taimoshan Catchwater extensions proposed would add approximately 41 million gallons a day to our supplies, which would then total 27.5 million gallons per day.
During last summer the maximum weekly consumption on the Island reached a record of 121.56 million gallons and on the Mainland a record of 71.52 million gallons. These two figures show an increase of 2.41 million gallons per day on the Island and 1.52 million gallons per day on the Mainland over the previous record weekly consumption figures, or a total daily increase of 3.93 million gallons.
This abnormal increase in one year, which equals about four years' estimated increase, taxed the filtering and distributing system of the Colony to its utmost, and has shown that extensions and enlargements must immediately be faced or we shall be in the position of having water but unable to deliver it.
As all extra supplies for the Island must now be got from the mainland the vulnerability of the cross Harbour connections becomes more serious and the carrying capacity more necessary.
The existing 12" Cross Harbour Pipe which was laid for an emergency, and was partly in the nature of an experiment, has now almost reached the limit of its useful life, leaving only one 18" main as our sole link.
A new 18" main should now, therefore, be constructed and protective works undertaken on the existing 18′′ main.
As the Garden Service Reservoir is now being used more or less to its limit, arrangements should be made for passing Shing Mun water to the Albany Service Reservoir. This will necessitate pumps in the region of the Public Gardens and a pipe line to the Albany. This work is urgent but fortunately can be fairly quickly and cheaply carried out.
The passing of filtered water to the Albany Service Reservoir means that more filtering capacity is required at the Eastern end of the City and the proposal, with which I agree, is to erect a new 4 million gallon fast gravity filtering plant at the Eastern Filter Beds, thus also relieving the strain on the Bowen Road Conduit.
Some additions to the distribution mains in the City will also be required to meet the altered conditions.
.
With the addition of a consumption of approximately 100,000 gallons per day from the Island Middle Level Supplies for the Queen Mary Hospital the capacity of the existing pumps at Pokfulam Road Station has been reached and further exten- sion is now necessary.
As there is no room for extension in the Pokfulam Road Pumping Station, and the Service Reservoir capacity in that district is already overtaxed, it is proposed to erect a new Central Pumping Station and to pump either from the Gardens or Albany Service Reservoir to a new Service Reservoir to be constructed close to the existing Peak Road Tank. This would appear the cheapest and most satisfactory method of relieving the situation and providing facilities for expansion in the Middle Levels.
On the Mainland the distribution system is a comparatively new and modern one so far as mains are concerned, but it is very short of Service Reservoir capacity which throws a heavy and undesirable strain on the mains at peak loads, with consequent depletion of pressures. To remedy this two new Service Reservoirs are proposed, one at Kowloon Tsai and the other at Kowloon City, the first named