1963-1964

at the beginning of June, the necessary arrangements were satisfactorily completed. Rapid action was taken to charter a fleet of tankers of up to 20,000 tons capacity and to construct the necessary berthing and discharge facilities. The first tanker discharged at Tsuen Wan on the 27th June and the fleet was quickly built up and at one period 13 tankers were on charter. During the year, a total of 3,077 million gallons of water were delivered by the tankers which represented very nearly 25% of the total consumption during the year.

10.04. Visiting commercial shipping was discouraged from taking on water in the Colony unless in urgent need. Naval ships supplied water from their distillation plants and merchant ships brought in water free of transportation costs. Special reception points were consequently installed to receive this water and pump it into the treated or raw water systems as appropriate. A total of 16.8 m.g. was received by this means.

10.05. The drought conditions also affected areas of South China and consequently the quantity of water available from the Shum Chun Reservoir was severely reduced. Under an agreement made between the People's Committee of Po On County in November 1960, the Colony was to be supplied with approximately 5,000 million gallons of water per year provided the rainfall was not less than 63". However, last October, the Authorities could only promise 1,400 m.g. but in January 1964, they were able to promise a further 200 m.g. The increased quantity was very welcome but it was insufficient to permit any relaxation of the restrictions.

10.06. Total rainfall for the year as recorded by the Royal Observatory was 40.54" and the average of the 15 raingauges located in the Waterworks catchment areas 39.3", which is less than half the yearly average of 84.75"; rainfall was the lowest ever recorded. The Royal Observatory statistics are maintained for the calendar year and the rainfall from 1st January to 31st December 1963 was 35.48", the previous lowest being 45.84" in 1895. The most significant months were April, May and June, these being the months when summer rains are normally expected to commence. The total for the three months was only 8.94" against an average of 31.91". The yield from all sources was as follows and the figures for the previous two years are given for comparison purposes (figures are million gallons):