XN000022-1992-01-15 — Page 33

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1992

DRINKING WATER UP TO WHO STANDARD

* * *

THE STANDARD THE DRINKING WATER SUPPLY IN HONG KONG IS UP TO

THE DIRECTOR OF WATER SET BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO),

ON WATER SUPPLIES, MR WONG KWOK-LAI, TOLD AN INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP QUALITY TODAY (WEDNESDAY).

ON WORKSHOP

"ALUMINIUM WATER TREATMENT WORKS URBAN AND

IN HIS OPENING ADDRESS TO A THREE-DAY IN DRINKING WATER", MR WONG SAID THERE ARE 18 SCATTERED OVER THE TERRITORY AND THE POTABLE SUPPLY TO ALL MOST POPULATED RURAL AREAS IS FULLY TREATED.

DEPARTMENT THE WORKSHOP IS ORGANISED BY THE WATER SUPPLIES COLLABORATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL WATER SUPPLY ASSOCIATION.

THE

TERRITORY'S GATHERING

IN

MR WONG SAID

MOSTLY GROUNDS ARE QUALITY OF RAW WATER UPLAND AND WELL PROTECTED FROM POLLUTION. THE FROM THIS SOURCE IS EXTREMELY GOOD AND POSES NO PROBLEM FOR TREATMENT.

A LARGE

HE SAID WATER FROM CHINA COMES FROM

RIVER WHICH IS SUBJECT TO THE EFFECT OF AGRICULTURAL AND SOME INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES.

WATER FROM THIS

T

SOURCE DOES

HE SAID.

NOT IT 19

OF "ALTHOUGH THE QUALITY COMPARE SO FAVOURABLE AS THAT FROM OUR UPLAND CATCHMENT AREAS, BY FAR SATISFACTORY AND HAS NO TREATMENT PROBLEM,

BE DESCRIBED "IN GENERAL TERMS, THE DRINKING WATER SUPPLY CAN

VERY LOW IN AS BEING SOFT, LOW TO MODERATE IN MINERAL SALT CONTENT, ORGANIC MATTER AND CONFORMING CHEMICALLY AND BACTERIOLOGICALLY TO GUIDELINE FOR DRINKING WATER QUALITY (WHO 1984)," HE ADDED.

MR WONG SAID PROVIDING AN ADEQUATE WATER SUPPLY FOR HAD ALWAYS BEEN DIFFICULT.

OF

THE

HONG KONG

"WE HAVE A HIGHLY UNPREDICTABLE RAINFALL DUE TO THE SMALLNESS

AREA IN GEOGRAPHICAL

VERY SLIGHT TURN IN THE MARK A

OF DIFFERENCE

SEVERAL

THAT A

THE DIRECTION OF A TROPICAL CYCLONE WILL HUNDRED MILLIMETRES OF RAINFALL, HE SAID.

11

ABOUT TWO-THIRDS OF SYSTEMS CATER

AT PRESENT, WATER FROM CHINA CONSTITUTES THE TERRITORY'S DEMAND WHILE HONG KONG'S OWN RESERVOIR FOR THE REMAINING THIRD.

"WATER WAS FIRST OBTAINED FROM

CUBIC

QUANTITY OF 22.7 MILLION

CHINA IN 1960 AT AN ANNUAL

WHICH METRES

TODAY STANDS AT 570 THE SUPPLY FROM MILLION CUBIC METRES WITH A NEW AGREEMENT EXTENDING CHINA INTO THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, HE SAID.

0

TH

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