Out in the Shing Mun Gorge to-day, British engineers are building the greatest dam in the Far East. It will have a capacity of 3,000,000,000 gallons when completed.
Forty years ago engineers were busy preparing plans for the first Kowloon waterworks. Up until that time, British residents on the peninsula had to be content with spring and well water, and they greeted the Government's water supply proposal with whole-hearted enthusiasm.
What was in the Government's mind when the waterworks project was first undertaken, is revealed in a despatch forwarded to the Colonial Office by the Hon. Mr. W. Chatham, acting Director for Public Works, in August, 1897.
Prior to the completion of the waterworks, said the despatch, the inhabitants of that portion of territory known as British Kowloon were entirely dependent upon wells or streams in the immediate neighbourhood of their dwellings for their water supply. The rapidly increasing population and establishment and growth of industrial enterprises made it imperative that a supply should be introduced from sources less liable to contamination or to failure during the dry season.
Accordingly, in 1893, works were undertaken on lines which had been sketched out by Mr. Osbert Chadwick, C.M.G., during his visit to the Colony in 1890.
Page 1088
British Kowloon consists of a peninsula 2.1 miles in length by an average breadth of a little over a mile. The southern extremity of the peninsula is very largely occupied by European residences and barracks for the Hongkong Regiment, whilst the coast line to the northwards is fringed with Chinese villages, two of which—Yaumati and Hung Hom—are of considerable size and importance. The interior of the peninsula consists of a series of barren hills, intersected in all directions by valleys—a district which, to a superficial glance, appears far from favourable for the purpose of obtaining a water supply.
Examination showed, however, that the valley bottoms were filled with sand saturated with water, and subsequent experiments proved that a daily yield of at least 100,000 gallons from an area of 95 acres might be relied on. On this information, three collecting valleys were selected, having a combined area of 220 acres and, therefore, a probable minimum yield of 232,000 gallons per day, equal to 16 gallons per head for a population of 14,200, as shown by the census of 1891.
Across the entrance of each of the three valleys, a trench was excavated through the water-bearing sand to the hard ground below and filled in with clay puddle, so as to form a dam and prevent the escape of the water underground to the sea. Above the dams, wells were sunk, and into these were led, at a depth of about 10 feet below the surface, lines of earthenware collecting pipes laid with open joints, the remaining part of the pipe trenches being filled in with screened sand. The sand in the valley bottoms is thus turned to account as a natural filtering agent, and even during the heaviest rains, the water arrives clear at the wells.
Out in the Shing Mun Gorge to-day, British engineers are building the greatest dam in the Far East. It will have a capacity of 3,000,000,000 gallons when completed.
Forty years ago engineers were busy preparing plans for the first Kowloon waterworks. Up until that time, British residents on the peninsula had to be content with spring and well water, and they greeted the Government's water supply proposal with whole-hearted enthusiasm.
What was in the Government's mind when the waterworks project was first undertaken, is revealed in a despatch forwarded to the Colonial Office by the Hon.Mr.W. Chatham,- acting Director for Public Works, in August, 1897.
Prior to the completion of the waterworks, sald the despatch, the inhabitants of that portion of territory known as British Kowloon were entirely dependent upon wells or streams in the immediate neighbourhood of their dwellings. for their water supply. The rapidly increasing population and establishment and growth of industrial enterprises made it imperative that a supply should be introduced from sources less liable to contamination or to a fallure during the dry season.
Accordingly, in 1893, works were undertaken on lines which had been sketched out by Mr. Osbert Chaswick, C.M.G., during his visit to the Colony. in 1890.
The
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British Kowloon sansists of a peninsula 21 miles in length by an average breadth of a little over a mile. southern extremity of the peninsula is very largely occupied by European residences and barracks for the Hongkong Regiment, whilst the coast line to the northwards is fringed with Chinese villages, two of which-Yaumati and Hang Hom - are of con- siderable size and importance. The interior of the peninsula, consists of a series of barren hills, intersected in all directions by valleys - district, which to a superficial. glance, appears far from favourable for the purpose of obtaining a water supply.
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Examination showed, however, that the valley bottoms were filled with sand saturated with water, and subsequent ex- periments proved that a daily yield of at least 100,000 gallons from an area of 95 acres might be relied on. on this information, three collecting valleys were selected, having combined area of 220 acres and, therefore, a probable minimum yield of 232,000 gallons per day, equal to 16 gallons per head for a population of 14,200, as shown by the census of 1891.
Across the entrance of each of the three valleys, a trench was excavated through the water-bearing send to the herd ground below and filled in with clay puddle, so as to form a dam and prevent the escape of the water underground to the sea. Above the dems, wells were sunk, and into these were led, at a
dep th of about 10 feet below the surface, lines of earthenware collecting pipes laid with open joints and remaining part of the pipe trenches being filled in with screened sand. The sand in the valley bottoms is thus turned to accountas a natural filtering agent and even during the heaviest rains, the water arrives clear at the wells..
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