than 3 gallons per head per day could in practice be supplied to Kowloon,There is no effective means of reserving water for drinking and other essential purposes only and consumption would have to be controlled by recourse to the usual expedient of restricting hours of supply for all uses, Hours of supply for Hong Kong and Kowloon would be staggered, and would probably be limited to four hours daily each.
It seems unlikely that in siege or blockade conditions the population of the Colony would be greater than it is at present. Indeed it would probably be smaller since many Chinese would do their best to leave the Colony Thile trouble ́asted.
It would be possible to supplement the reservoir supplies to a limited extent by water from wells usually used for flushing, but this would be brackish or polluted and require to be bɔiled.
The Governor has been advised that the suggestion of obtaining alternative supplies by the distillation of sea water is not a practicable one. This expedient is understood to have been tried an a very sull scale during the 1939-45 war by the Royal Navy in Gibraltar and to have been found very expensive.
Yours sincerely,
(Sgd) N.D. WATSON,
Private Secretary.
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