A
5-
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1974
24-HOUR WATER SUPPLY TO CONTINUE FOR TIME BEING BUT RESTRICTIONS CANNOT BE WHOLLY RULED OUT YET
******
THE DIRECTOR OF WATER SUPPLIES, MR. BILL KNIGHT, DECIDED THIS MORNING NOT TO REIMPOSE THE STAGE 2 WATER RESTRICTIONS FOR THE TIME BEING AND TO KEEP FULL SUPPLIES ON FOR NOW.
BUT HE ADDED A WARNING THAT WHILE THE WATER STORAGE SITUATION HAD IMPROVED VERY SUBSTANTIALLY AS A RESULT OF THE TYPHOON, A REIMPOSITION OF SOME LEVEL OF RESTRICTIONS COULD NOT BE RULED OUT.
MR. KNIGHT TOOK THIS DECISION IN VIEW OF THE WATER LEVELS REPORTED EARLY THIS MORNING. ALL RESERVOIRS, WITH THE VERY IMPORTANT EXCEPTION OF PLOVER COVE, WERE THEN FULL OR NEARLY FULL. PLOVER COVE, HONG KONG'S LARGEST RESERVOIR AND A KEY FACTOR IN SUPPLIES, WAS STILL ONLY ABOUT 60 PER CENT FULL.
THE PHASE 2 RESTRICTIONS HAD BEEN KEPT LIFTED OVER THE WEEKEND BECAUSE OF THE CONTINUING SEVERE WEATHER LATE ON SATURDAY AND THROUGHOUT SUNDAY. FULL SUPPLY WAS KEPT ON BECAUSE THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN DIFFICULTY IN RESVERING SUPPLY IF RESTRICTIONS WAS THEN BEEN RUN BACK ON.
AS REGARDS A DECISION ON WHAT RESTRICTIONS MAY NOW BE NEEDED OVER THE WINTER, MR. KNIGHT SAJO THAT AN ANNOUNCEMENT WOULD BE MADE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
+ THE DECISION,+ HE SAID, +WILL BE REACHED WITH ALI SPEED - BUT I MUST ASK EVERYONE TO BE PATIENT FOR A SHORT WHILE, SINCE WE HAVE TO RECALCULATE THE SUPPLY PROSPECTS ON THE BASIS OF A COMPLETELY NEW STORAGE PATTERN, AND THE FULL YIELD FROM THE STORE IS NOT YET KNOWN SINCE THE RUN OEF IS CONTINUING.
ניי
+WHILE WE ARE NATURALLY VERY PLEASED WITH THE INCREASE, IT SHOULD BE BORNE IN MIND THAT THE TOTAL STORAGE AS REPORTED YESTERDAY (SUNDAY) OF ABOUT 45,000 MILLION GALLONS WAS EXCEEDED BY STORAGE AT PLOVER COVE ALONE TIS TIME LAST YEAR.+
MR. KNIGHT ALSO ADDED THAT WHATEVER THE DECISION REACHED ON RESTRICTIONS THE NEED TO SAVE WATER, AND TO AVOID ALL WASTE, WOULD CONTINUE.
BAD.+
+WASTE IS INEXCUSABLE,+ MR. KNIGHT SAID, IN GOOD TIMES OR
16