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55.
Stench emission from Tin Shui Wai stormwater sewer
Following is a question by Dr the Hon Tang Siu-tong and a written reply by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
Residents of Kingswood Villas in Tin Shui Wai, especially those living in Tin Oi Court, have been suffering from the stench emitted from the nearby stormwater sewer. In connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
(a)
The reasons for the emission of stench from the stormwater sewer despite the closing down of the pig rearing industry; and
(b)
The measures and the time frame for cleaning up the polluted sewer so that residents will no longer have to suffer from the stench?
Reply:
Mr President.
(a)
(b)
The odour in the stormwater channel near Tin Oi Court is the result of water pollution from the indiscriminate dumping of waste, particularly livestock waste, upstream. There is also a minor problem with domestic sewage discharges.
A number of measures are being implemented to alleviate the problem. Eighteen Low Flow Interceptors (LFI), commissioned in 1994, intercept the polluted base flow during the dry season and divert it to the public sewerage system for proper treatment and disposal. An inflatable dam assists in the downstream dispersal of the pollutants in the channel. A full scale desilting of the channel, completed in January 1995, removed polluting material deposited, thus removing odour and improving flows. The Deep Bay area, which covers the Tin Shui Wai catchments, was declared a Water Control Zone in December 1991; factories in Kiu Tau Wai are now required to connect their industrial effluents into the public sewers newly completed. This has resulted in diverting a total flow of over 2,000 cubic meters per day and a pollution load equivalent to about 10,000 people away from the channel. The small number of domestic sewage discharges into the channel will also be removed when new sewers are provided under Stage 2 of the Yuen Long and Kam Tin Sewage Master Plan in mid 1999. Finally, livestock waste, the main cause of odour problem in the channel, will be controlled under the Livestock Waste Control Scheme when controls for the Tin Shui Wai catchments are implemented in mid-1996.
End/Wednesday, June 14, 1995
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