82
A.
B.
COMPOSTING PROJECT
FIRST REPORT.
Reconnaissance of Local Conditions.
1.
2.
Nightsoil Services. I have seen in action the ordinary nocturnal service for collection of nightsoil and the new daytime 2-pail system of collection. I havo inspected examples of the barges in which night soil containers are transported to disposal points and I have witnessed loading of one of the new steel barges with pails. I have visited the nightsoil maturing depot at Castle Peak.
Refuse Services. I have seen street cleansing and refuse collection in process. I have visited several dustboat stations in Kowloon and Hong Kong and have been prosent when street orderly trucks and collection vehicles were discharging into wooden and steel refuse barges at some of these stations.
On two occasions I have walked over the refuse dump at Kun Tong and have observed the unloading of refuse bargos and the unofficial salvage operations by inhabitants of the adjacent squatters' villago.
3. Composting Work. I have been twice to Tsun Van to see the
composting work in progress there and to assess the site with regard to its suitability for a now composting installation.
4. Agricultural Stations. I have made a tour of five of the
agricultural stations in the New Territorios. I have seon some of the compost produced at Tsun Wan in use and have been shown the procedure by which compost is produced from the agricultural wastes on these stations.
5. Contacts with Departments.
A joint meeting with Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Hon. Chairman of the Urban Council, Deputy Director of Health Services and officials from these Departments has been held and I have had other oppor- tunities for discussing the composting project with the staff of those Departments and also of the Public Works and Marine Departments. I am pleased to acknowledge gratefully the helpfulness which I have met in all my contacts with officials,
6. Other Sources of information. I have had access to relevant
files of the Department of Agriculture and of the Sanitary Department of the Urban Council. I have been provided with site plans, maps, and other dravings sufficient for my requirements at this stage. I have a copy of the 1949-50 Annual Report of the Urban Council and Sanitary Department.
Summary of Information Collected.
1. Estimates of the present resident population of the urban area
indicate about 1,750,000 inhabitants including squatters. Refuse from the whole of this population is brought in by the collection servicos. There are no firm figures for the population which contributes to the nightsoil collection.
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The number of nightsoil pails in use and emptied daily is estimated by the Sanitary Department to be 50,000.
3. The quantity of nightsoil collected daily and delivered to night-
soil berges for disposal is estimated by the Sanitary Department to be 180 tons. As a result of an inspection made by an official of the Agricultural Department, it is suggested by that Department that the weight of night soil collected is probably about 30% loss, i.c, about 130 tons per day.