THE WATER SHORTAGE.
WHY
A RIDER MAIN SUPPLY CANNOT BE GIVEN.
HONG KONG RESIDENTS TO PAY FOR THEIR WATER.
THE "TANKER SUGGESTION" ANALYSED.
A third meeting of the Water Emergency Committee was held on July 8 in the Council Chamber. The most interesting business from the point of view of the "man on the meter " was the decision at the suggestion of the Colonial Secretary that all meter users in Hong Kong (not Kowloon) should pay 50 cents per thousand gallons.
The Director of Public Works gave a detailed summary of the present water position, and of the means which had been taken to cope with the drought.
MOST SERIOUS."
USELESSNESS OF TWO HOURS
A DAY MAIN SUPPLY.
Mr. Creasy said:-
The rainfall for the 12 months ending June 30, 1929, as recorded at the Royal Observatory, totalled 37.27in. by far the lowest ever re- corded for a continuous period of 12 months. The previous lowest rainfall was in 1895 when 45.83in. fell during that year. These figures speak for themselves.
The present water position is the most serious the Colony has had to face for very many years and it is not at all surprising that a house supply to all rider main districts nnot be given at this critical time.
It was on November 1, 1928, that the rider main supply was discon- tinued, and a constant supply by street fountains only had to be in- troduced as at that time the storage in the reservoirs had fallen to 1,410 million gallons and the consumption on full supply had just previous reached the maximum of about 12 million gallons a day.
The present storage in the reser- voirs is 162 million gallons and the consumption has been reduced to about three million gallons a day, due to restrictions and to the water obtained from outside the Colony.
Not until the storage in the re- servoirs has again approached the figures for last November can res- trictions be entirely removed.
During certain periods of every year restrictions have had to be
32
owing to their height (4 storeys) | be considerably reduced. This has and the difference in levels of the already been done where the re- hill side upon which they are built, gular system has come into force; unless the city is divided into sec- for instance in the case of the tions from East to West a supply tanks in Gilman and Centre Streets of two hours to the whole rider and at Western Market which inain district would result in have been connected up and are
distribution, the unequal
lower supplied regularly by waterboats Laichikok the queues here storeys of the houses on the lower from levels would alone obtain a supply, have almost ceased to exist. whilst the upper storeys and the lugher level houses would obtain The consump- little or no water. tion would also be excessive in the houses obtaining a supply.
If a rider main supply were now introduced in the various sections or the City for two hours it would result in a rise in the consumption to six million gallons and this rate of consumption is impossible under Lue present circumstatiçes.
The rider mains can be shut off from the principal mains indepen- dently without affecting the meter- ed supplies, but when all or any section of the rider main supply is in operation, either direct to the houses or through the fountains, the principal mains they are fed must necessarily be in action.
The extensions to the brick tanks on the Praya have just been com- pleted, and these are being con- nected together so as to facilitate rilling from lighters or waterboats. when fully developed this system should appreciably augment sup- plies.
When the existing low level tank system has been rally developed and the outside sources of supply have been increased it will be pos sable to introduce tanks on a higher level zone of about 100 feet above the sea, and when this extended system is in operation it will be possible still further to conserve rapidly diminishing water the supply on the Island. from which Centrifugal pumps, electrically deliver water to driven, would these tanks either from the large bricks tanks on the Praya or direct from lighters. Long supply pires with the necessary number of taps would be laid from these upper tanks so as to embrace as large a district
The proposal to discontinue the free allowance of water to metered supplies is being considered, and no doubt any move in this direc tion would have the desired effect of further restricting consumption. A house supply to rider main properties at the present time is utterly out of the question, and no matter what supplies might be the brought into
Colony they
as possible and reduce carrying to a minimum.
Supplies From the Mainland. There are at the moment three available sources of supply on the mainland, viz., from Laichikok,
resorted to and the supply from should be utilized to increase the Tsun Wan and Shamchun, the last
street fountains has taken the place of the house supplies in the rider main districts.
It is most unfortunate that owing to the continued drought it has been found necessary to reduce the street fountains supply and intro- duce the still more irksome tank system, the water for which has to be obtained from outside sources.
The maximum consumption when the City is on full supply has been shown to be 12 million gallons and with the present restrictions in Force the consumption has been reduced to three millon gallons.
Where Upper Stories Get
Nothing.
The houses which are served by the ider mains are in the most thickly Populated part of the City, and,
present storage, and not the con- sumption, until the position has vastly improved. This cannot be too strongly emphasized.
Tank System of Supply. A house service supply being in possible, the only course left is to tanks sufficient supply through water at as convenient points as possible. If perfected, this system of supply from tanks becomes the equivalent of constant supply by street fountains, a system which it has been frequently neces- sary to have recourse to in the past.
exact
The tank system has not yet been developed to its full capacity. By more frequent filling of the tanks and with additional taps and leugths of piping the queues can
of which is expected to be in operation this week.
During the summer months it is anticipated that fully two million gallons a day can be obtained from these sources and transported to the Hong Kong tanks by water boats or lighters.
un-
As these supplies begin to fail in the autumn the service from the West River, where there is limited water, will have to be fur- ther developed to meet the de- ficiency.
Impracticable.
Government having decided that a regular service of large tankers for Tytam Tuk is impracticable, it now remains to deal with the ques tion of a service of Coasters or lighters, with tugs.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.