216. Maintenance of Meters:-The number of meters repaired and tested was 12,870 on the Island and 7,635 on the Mainland. Of these 3,207 on the Island and 1,081 on the Mainland were repaired on site without removal. Twenty-two meters on the Island and fourteen on the Mainland were tested under Regulation 7 of the Waterworks Ordinance and 107 meters on the Island and 64 on the Mainland were found to be unfit for further service. At the end of the year there were 14,276 meters actually in use on the Island and 10,827 on the Mainland.
217. Details of the number of meters in use and repaired for the past twenty years, together with the average cost of repairs for the past fifteen years, are given in Annexes IX & X. Figures for the war years are omitted.
218. Maintenance of Workshops:-In the workshops the manufacture and repair of various equipment required for the maintenance of Waterworks pumping plant, machinery, hydrants, valves, etc., and for other Government Departments and Sub-Departments, was continued. Some 690 orders were dealt with, 642 being for Waterworks. This included the manufacture and erection of two complete new impeller shaft and bearing assemblies for 170 B.H.P. centrifugal pumps and the complete overhaul of seven large internal combustion engines. The annual inspection and overhaul of boilers in various Government buildings was continued and 22,226 meters, a considerable number of spare parts for which were manufactured in the workshops due to the failure of manufacturers in England to deliver spares against Indents, were dismantled, overhauled and tested.
Miscellaneous Waterworks.
219. (A) Typhoon & Rainstorm Damage: Minor repairs to typhoon damage to Waterworks Buildings were carried out by the Architectural Office.
(B) Repairs to rainstorm damage on Catchwaters were carried out on Stanley Mound East Catchwater, where a large retaining wall had to be built; on Tytam Tuk East Catchwater, where three sections of retaining wall had to be rebuilt; on all Island catchwaters where minor slips were cleared and stones and debris removed; on Beacon Hill Catchwater, where a major slip necessitated the building of a retaining wall and on Shing Mun Catchwater, where several slips occurred.
(C) Repairs to rainstorm damage were also carried out at West Point Service Reservoir, where damage occurred to the outlet tunnel and embankment; at the Stilling Pool below the overflow of Tytam Tuk Dam, where the stone pitching was badly disturbed; on the slopes of Yaumati Reservoir embankment and at Taipo Intake where a retaining wall had to be rebuilt.