30
APPENDIX B1.
NOTES ON SEWERAGE KOWLOON
Iy
Wing Commander S.E. Faber,
A.F.C.
1.
The question of sewerage arose in connexion with the proposed planning of the harbour, and especially of the Kowloon area. It was suggested, in my report of Maroh, 1946, that long term planning must visualize the eventual provision of water-borne sanitation as the only permissible system in urban areas, and that it was understood that before the war the growing pollution of the harbour had caused concern to the Medical Authorities.
2. either
3.
The only practicable alternatives appear to be,
(a) to treat the sewage within the urban area before
discharge into the harbour, or
(b) to transport the sewage outside the urban area.
The former of these was not considered acceptable, ohiefly because it is difficult to find suitable sites for a sewage works, and because such a works, is likely to be objection- able from a public health point of view. The manurial value of the products of the treatment works is also wasted.
The latter alternative, which developed into the scheme as here submitted, visualized the pumping of all sewage to an agricultural area, whereby the effluent and sludge would become directly available for agriculture.
The nearest potential agricultural area is the Shatin Valley but this involves traversing the Unicorn Range, which I suggest could most economically be done by piping through the existing Railway Tunnel. It may be found later that a separate sewerage tunnel, which would have to be about 6 feet in diameter, would be justifiod.
4.
In order to centralize the pressure-pumps, a location was selected, at approximately the centre of gravity of population near the junction of Nathan Road and Boundary Street. sewers would be laid to fall to this pumphouso, which would entail
The main relaying the existing sewers, which fall towards the harbour. Owing to the distances, and the natural slopes of the ground, it would be necessary to provide pumps at intervals along the main sewers, so that they would remain gravity sewers between pumps. This does not present any serious engineering problem, as shown in Shanghai, where such a system has been in operation for many years, and where sewage is transported in dead flat country up to distances of as much as twelve miles,
5.
The value of the sewage, after treatment at a sewage works, has been the subject of many articles in technical papers. In many large oitics it has been found economical to incinerate it, but this has been because of high transportation costs. farmers can get it easily and cheaply, the sludge has been found of considerable agricultural value, not only from its content of
Where
Page 30Page 31