LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
38
ONE
At a meeting of the Legislative Council held on Thursday, June 20, the HON. MR. W. E., L. SHENTON asked the following ques- tions:----
Will the Government give this Council the following informa- tion:
1. The present position of the water supply in this Colony? 2. What measures have the Government already taken or
planned to meet the present water shortage.
•Creusy
(a) By obtaining supplies of water outside the Colony? (b) By improving the water supplies within the Colony? 3. What plans have the Government for preventing the recur- rence of the present shortage of water? Mr Harold Thomas
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS (HON. ME CREASY) replied: The total quantity of water in the storage and service reservoirs on the island on the morning of the 17th June amounted to 192.75 million gallons. The average drop since June 1 (with fully one inch rainfall) has been 3.2 million gallons a day, which means that, under similar conditions, there is storage to last until 16th August.
The daily rate of draw-off will, however, be decreased by further curtailment of the hours of supply, as further outside sources of supply are brought to Hong Kong for the benefit chiefly of those sections of the community on the lower levels who are at present the principal sufferers.
THE DAILY CONSUMPTION.
The total daily consumption from all sources has been reduced to 4 million gallons as against a maximum 1928 summer supply of 12 million gallons a day. Compared with last June the High Levels consumption has decreased by about 40% and the same reduction applies to all metered services in the City.
At present all the reservoirs, excepting Tytam, are practically empty, and it is of interest to record that, with the exception of the Pokfulam Reservoir, there is no evidence of silting. The Pokfulam Reservoir has silted to the extent of 3 or 4 million gallons due to the construction of the section of Stubbs Road within the catchment area. The total loss in storage in the island reservoirs due to siltage is about 0.2 of 1%.
In Kowloon the total quantity of water in the storage and service reservoirs on 17th June amounted to 80.51 million gallons,
The yield from the Shing Mun River since 1st June (with a 2 inch rainfall) has averaged 1.50 million gallons a day, but at times it has dropped to less than 1 million gallons a day.
The average daily drop in storage since 1st June has been 0.75 million gallons so that with but a small rainfall Kowloon should have storage for about 31⁄2 months It is hoped that it may soon be possible to increase the hours of supply in Kowloon, but it must be borne in mind that Kowloon may have to continue contribut- ing supplies to Hong Kong from Laichikok for many months— possibly until next year's rains set in.
As regards subsidiary water supplies the Shaukiwan and Aber- deen Village supplies are in a fairly secure position, and only a few light showers are necessary to keep the streams supplying these water works with sufficient for the normal consumption.
Arrangements have been made for all Government vessels to obtain their supplies from these sources during the present shortage.
The Repulse Bay supply (from Wongneichong Reservoir) is almost exhausted, but arrangements have been made to deliver water by water boat from Stanley or Aberdeen, should it completely fail. Less than 10,000 gallons a day would suffice to maintain an emergency supply to this district.
There is plenty of water at Taipo, but the Fanling supply is getting rather low.
EMERGENCY MEASURES.
The following emergency measures have been taken to augment the ordinary supplies.
In November, 1928, 4 steel tanks, each of 30,000 gallons capacity, were cabled for from England and arrived in the Colony on 28th January, 1929. Two were erected at Western Street and Sutherland Street, and came into operation on the 21st March. The other two were erected at Western Market and Gilman Street, and came into operation on the 9th and 14th April respectively. The total quantity delivered to these 4 tanks to date from the Laichikok Water Boat Dock is 22.63 million gallons, or an average of 0.257 million gallons a day. For the past few weeks the daily delivery has been over 330,000 gallons a day.
Two other steel tanks were purchased locally and have been erected at Douglas Wharf and Centre Street. The former is supplied by the Douglas Company steamers when in port and also by H.M.S. Cherub from time to time.
The remainder of the tanks (15) are of brick and reinforced concrete construction, nine having been built by the Tung Wah Hospital Authorities and the last six erected by Government on the new Praya East Reclamation. The following is a list of the various tanks shewing their positions and capacity, totalling over 1,000,000 gallons. The additional Tanks will be available for intermittent sources of supply from steamers bringing water from outports and for the supplies from Wang Mun and Tsun Wan.
(a) Steel Tanks.
TANKS ERECTED.
Erected by the Water Works Office.
Total Number, Six.
(1) at Western Street.
(2) at Sutherland Street.
(8) at Western Market,
(4) at Gilman Street.
(5) at Douglas Street.
(6) at Centre Street.
Total Capacity, 754 Tons,
(b) Brick Tanks.
Erected by the Tung Wah Hospital Authorities. Total Number, Nine.
(1) at Davis Street (for launches only) (2) at Sands Street junct. Connaught Road
(9) at Hill Road junct. Connaught Road
(4) at Water Street
(5) at Eastern Street
(6) at Queen's Street
(7) at Cleverly Street
(8) at Harbour Office
(9) at Pottinger Street
Total Capacity, 2,747 Tons. (c) Brick and R.C.C. Tanks. On Praya East (Six).
(1) 146 Tons. (2) 125
(3) 251
"F
(4) 125
(5) 251 (6) 144
"
"
138 Tons
381 Tons
315 Tons
339 Tons
339 Tons
362 Tons
337 Tons
337 Tons
337 Tons
Total Capacity, 1,042 Tons.
(d) Summary of above capacities.
Steel Tanks
Brick Tanks
B. & R. C. C. Tanks
754 Tons
2,747 Tons
1,042 Tons
Total capacity of all tanks 4,543 Tons or, ap-
proximately, 1,000,000 gallons.
The quantity of water delivered into tanks on the Praya from ships calling at Hong Kong between the 10th and 17th June, both days inclusive, was 836,640 gallons, or 3,735 tons, this water coming from Japan, Shanghai, Foochow and Wang Mun.
SHIPPING COMPANIES' ASSISTANCE,
We are much indebted to the local Shipping Companies for their kind assistance and active co-operation in securing this continuous transport of water from the outports. Messrs. Jardine, Matheson and Co. again come to our assistance by placing the services of Mr. Robert Sutherland at the disposal of Government during his recent visit to Shanghai.
Arrangements were made early in the year with Messrs. Butterfield and Swire to obtain a supply from the Taikoo Refinery for delivery to the City Mains in the Whitfield area. A 5" connecting pipe line, 750 ft. in length, was laid and water was obtained from the Refinery on the 1st February. Up to date a total of 21.35 million gallons has been obtained from this source, equal to an average daily quantity of 157,000 gallons. At present the Refinery has restricted the supply to Government to 100,000 gallons a day.
This firm have kindly furnished Government with a statement of the water in their reservoirs and have expressed their willingness to assist in any way possible.
CBE
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