XN000022-1996-01-25 — Page 11

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Water supplied to Leung King Estate clean and safe

Laboratory testing of water samples taken from Leung King Estate in Tuen Mun has confirmed that the water supplied to the estate is clean and safe for consumption, a spokesman for the Water Supplies Department said today (Thursday).

Samples were taken yesterday (Wednesday) and the day before from a consumer's tap, the water meter position and the fire hydrants in Leung Chi House in response to a report saying that an insect was found in the tap water in one of the flats in the building.

"The test results show that the water samples taken are clean, contain no sediment nor insect and are free from bacteria. Apart from one sample taken at the water meter position being slightly turbid, they all comply bacteriologically and chemically with World Health Organisation Guideline Standards for drinking water.

"Water supplied to consumers is fully treated and disinfected. Its quality is closely monitored by regular and frequent testing of water samples taken from all strategic points of the water supply system including service reservoirs, building sump and roof tanks and consumer taps," the spokesman added.

He reminded consumers to ensure that their inside plumbing systems including sump tanks, roof tanks and the associated taps and sinks are clean to prevent contamination of water.

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Provisional retail sales statistics for November 1995

According to the provisional figures released today (Thursday) by the Census and Statistics Department, the value of total retail sales in November 1995, estimated at $17.1 billion, increased by 5% when compared with November 1994. After discounting the effect of price changes over the period, total retail sales dropped by 1% in volume.

Sales of motor vehicles continued to show significant decline compared with a year earlier, by 38% in value and 41% in volume. Sales of fuels and consumer durable goods (other than motor vehicles) also went down, by 3% and 2% in value respectively. In terms of volume, they decreased by 9% and 6% respectively.