XN000022-1996-01-15 — Page 3

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Iron and manganese content of Dongjiang water

In response to today's (Monday) newspaper reports claiming that the iron and manganese content of Dongjiang water had exceeded international standards and might affect public health, a spokesman for the Water Supplies Department said the reports have failed to confirm whether the samples of Dongjiang water were collected through proper procedures.

At the same time, these samples were collected at individual tributaries and did not represent the overall water quality at the vast source of Dongjiang water supplied to Hong Kong, the spokesman added.

He said: "In fact, testings of samples collected by our department through proper procedures at the Muk Wu Pumping Station at the border have indicated that the iron, lead and manganese content of the Dongjiang water supplied to Hong Kong are far lower than the level as reported. The water is also in line with the standards laid down for raw water."

A table listing the average value and related standards for Dongjiang water and treated water for the year 1994-95 is attached for reference.

The spokesman added that the Water Supplies Department was well equipped with sufficient manpower to monitor the quality of raw and treated water as well as quality control.

"Our Water Science Division is staffed by more than 100 professionals including chief chemist, senior chemists and technicians," he said.

"At the same time, the laboratories of the Water Supplies Department are equipped with the state-of-the-art instrument to carry out various tests regularly on samples collected from Dongjiang water as well as treated water including tests on heavy metals and carcinogenic substances.

"Up till the present, results of these tests have indicated that these two categories of substances are far lower than the standards laid down by the World Health Organisation on water quality," he said.

The spokesman also pointed out that iron and manganese are the two most commonly found metals in the nature. They were not the kind of heavy metals usually associated by the general public as harmful to human beings.