XN000022-1984-12-20 — Page 6

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 19-4

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MUK WU 'B' PUMPING STATION OPENED

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THE MUK WU +B+ PUMPING STATION, ONE OF THE IMPORTANT FACILITIES REQUIRED FOR THE RECEPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF INCREASED WATER SUPPLIES FROM CHINA, WAS OFFICIALLY OPENED BY THE ACTING SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS, MR JOHN TODD, TODAY (THURSDAY).

THE NEW PUMPING STATION, LOCATED AT THE BORDER JUST SOUTH OF THE SHENZHEN RIVER, MARKS A SIGNIFICANT STEP FORWARD IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A 12-YEAR, THREE-STAGE WATER SUPPLY SCHEME THAT WILL MEET THE ANTICIPATED INCREASES IN CONSUMPTION IN FUTURE YEARS.

LAUNCHED IN JANUARY 1981, THE SCHEME INVOLVED THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEVEN PUMPING STATIONS, 32 KILOMETRES OF TUNNELS AND THE LAYING OF 31 KILOMETRES OF PIPELINES.

SPEAKING AT THE INAUGURATION, MR TODD SAID IN TERMS OF SCOPE, MAGNITUDE AND IMPORTANCE THE OVERALL SCHEME, ESTIMATED TO COST $1.75 BILLION, RANKED WITH ANY OF HONG KONG'S PAST MAJOR WATERWORKS PROJECTS.

+THE RAPID GROWTH OF HONG KONG AND ITS CHANGE FROM AN ENTREPOT TO A HIGHLY INDUSTRIALISED COMMUNITY SAW WATER CONSUMPTION RISE FROM LESS THAN 200 000 CUBIC METRES PER DAY IN THE EARLY POST-WAR YEARS TO A CURRENT LEVEL OF 1.8 MILLION CUBIC METRES PER DAY,+ HE SAID.

AS A RESULT EVEN THE COMPLETION OF PLOVER COVE RESERVOIR AND HIGH ISLAND RESERVOIR DID NOT ELIMINATE THE PROBLEM AND WATER RESTRICTIONS REMAINED A THREAT AT TIMES OF INADEQUATE RAINFALL, HE ADDED.

WHILE THE TERRITORY WAS DEVELOPING ITS OWN WATER RESOURCES, THE SUPPLY FROM ACROSS THE BORDER WAS SEEN AS AN ANSWER TO HELP MEET HONG KONG'S NEEDS AND WATER WAS FIRST OBTAINED ON A REGULAR BASIS FROM CHINA AS EARLY AS 1960.

THE INITIAL AGREEMENT WAS FOR AN ANNUAL SUPPLY OF 22.7 MILLION CUBIC METRES, BUT TODAY THIS FIGURE STOOD AT 290 MILLION CUBIC METRES AND WOULD INCREASE ANNUALLY TO AN AGREED FIGURE OF

620 MILLION CUBIC METRES IN 1994, REPRESENTING ABOUT 60 PER CENT OF HONG KONG'S DEMAND, MR TODD SAID.

WATER FROM CHINA IS DRAWN FROM THE EAST RIVER, A TRIBUTARY OF THE PEARL RIVER, AND IS PUMPED IN STAGES OVER A DISTANCE OF 83 KILOMETRES ALONG OPEN CHANNELS AND RIVER COURSES TO SHENZHEN RESERVOIR WHERE IT IS FED BY GRAVITY TO THE BORDER AND PIPED UNDER THE SHENZHEN RIVER THROUGH A 1 200-MILLIMETRE DIAMETER PIPE, LAID IN 1960 AND A 1 350-MILLIMETRE DIAMETER PIPE, LAID IN 1976.

/THE $95-MILLION