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pipes laid with open joints and surrounded with broken stone, the remaining part of the pipe trenches being filled in with screened sand. The sand in the valley bottoms is thus turned to account as a natural filtering agent and even during the heaviest rains the water arrives clear at the wells.
From the wells, which are at a level of 30 to 40 feet above the sea, the water is conveyed in iron pipes, laid in deep trenches, to a storage tank of 150,000 gallons capacity at Yau Ma Tei. It is then pumped into a reservoir constructed on an adjacent hill, 215 feet above the sea level and having a capacity of 160,000 gallons, and from there it is distributed through cast iron mains varying from 7 inches to 3 inches in diameter and aggregating about 10 miles in length.
For the supply of the native population, numerous fountains are fixed in the various villages, most of the European houses having a private supply laid on in the usual manner. All private supplies, whether for domestic or trade purposes, are measured by meter. To assist in regulating the supply, a second reservoir of 40,000 gallons capacity was constructed on a hill at Hung Hom, about 2 miles distant from Yau Ma Tei, at a height of 160 feet above the sea.
The engines and pumps, which are in duplicate, are of the Worthington type and were supplied by Messrs. James Simpson & Co., London. Each set is capable of delivering 10,000 gallons per hour.