No_12_December_1968 — Page 39

Civil engineering & public works

Tai Po Tau waterworks

can treat 6 million g.p.d.

IN the past, the Sheung Shui, Fan Ling and Tai Po areas of the New Territories, Hong Kong, received their domestic water supplies from stream

which provided negligible storage and were often incapable of meeting the combined agricultural and domestic demands during the dry

season.

Attempts were made in the mid 1950's to improve supplies to Fan Ling and Sheung Shui areas by sinking three deep bore wells. The yield of these wells proved to be very dis- appointing, and they were therefore abandoned. Some improvement, quan- titively, was made in 1962 to the Fan Ling and Sheung Shui supplies by the provision of a connection from the then recently completed trunk main delivering untreated water from the Sham Chun reservoir in China to Tai Lam Chung reservoir.

Measures were also taken to augment the supply to Tai Po, includ- ing the injection of water from the Lam Chuen River into the distribution

system in 1963, and later the uti- lization of water from the northern sources, that is China and the River Indus, by extraction from the pond formed behind the inflatable Fabridam at Tai Po Tau; this dam having been at Tai Po Tau; this dam having been installed as part of the Stage I Plover Cove works.

Water from two of the old stream intakes received rough filtration by passing through coarse sand beds and settling tanks were provided at Fan Ling, but water from the other intakes, and also from China and the Indus was untreated. All were, however, chlorinated.

Proposals for improvement

The Hong Kong Government was aware of the unsatisfactory nature of these supplies and in 1963 approval was given for a scheme to meet the combined requirements of the Sheung Shui, Fan Ling and Tai Po areas. Under this scheme the numerous sep- arate intakes are abandoned and all the water is drawn from a single

source, which is the upstream side of the inflatable Fabridam at Tai Po Tau. This location has the merit of being the focal point for the collection of water from the Plover Cove Scheme, China, the River Indus and also the Lam Chuen Valley.

Briefly, the scheme consists of pumping plant installed in the Tai Po Tau pumping station (part of the Plover Cove Scheme), from which water is delivered to the treatment works situated on a nearby hill over- looking the Lam Chuen Valley. A service reservoir of 4 million gallons capacity is located adjacent to the works to provide storage for the filter- ed water, and a series of trunk mains of various sizes feeds the water into the existing distribution networks at Fan Ling, Sheung Shui and Tai Po.

The treatment works has a capacity of 6 million gallons per day, which is substantially higher than the present demand; thus it will cater for the growing needs of the supply area for many years. In addition, space has

Aerial view of the works. The covered service reservoir is on the extreme left. The main building in the centre houses the chemical store, the chemical mixing tanks, feed pumps, plant room, laboratory and control room

Far East BUILDER, December 1968

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