XN000022-1972-08-11 — Page 6

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Friday, August 11, 1972

WATER BILLS TO COME EVERY FOUR MONTHS

Residents will be able to settle their water bills and meter

rent once in every four months instead of every three as at present, if

a new bill to be introduced into the Legislative Council is passed.

The Waterworks (Amendment) Bill, 1972, seeks to remove the

quarterly time limit for payment of water charges and meter rent and

requires consumers, in future, to undertake to pay the charges at

intervals to be determined by the Water Authority."

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Commenting on the change, a spokesman for the Water. Authority

said today the intention is that in future water bills will be issued

every four months based on the amount of water consumed over that period,

instead of the 3 months period now in operation.

One reason for changing the system is to reduce the number of

bills issued each year to a more manageable level and enable the Water manageable level and enable the Water

Authority to cope with the increasing number of consumers.

"The number of water meters installed in buildings throughout

Hong Kong has been increasing very rapidly over the past few years and

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it is estimated that by the end of this year about 500,000 meters will

be in service, representing an increase of 150 per cent since 1958," he

pointed out.

The spokesman said that the introduction of the new billing system

does not involve a revision of water charges. However, as a result of the

reduced frequency, individual bills will generally be higher since the

period of consumption to which they relate will be one month longer.

Following