Sessional_Paper_1921 — Page 72

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4. The Committee have arrived at the following conclusions :-

To pump Salt Water for an extension of the Water Carriage System to any of the 3 districts,-Peak, Middle Levels and Kowloon Point, is feasible and would be an advantage from a sanitary point of view. It would not however be economical to do so while fresh water can be spared and can be supplied at a less cost.

5. The cost per 1,000 gallons, including interest on capital and the cost of pumping where necessary, but not including depreciation and general maintenance charges which would be about the same in all cases--is approximately as follows:-

Salt Water pumped to-

The Peak

$3.33

Middle Levels

Kowloon Point...

Fresh Water supplied to-

1.25 See Mr. GIBBS's report--Annexe 11. 0.36

The Peak

Middle Levels

Kowloon Point...

$0.76

0.53 - See Mr. GIBBS's reports --Annexes 12 and 13. 0.17)

(N.B.---An addition for pumping from the City has been made in the case of the Peak and Middle

Levels.)

Hongkong.

(a.)--Water Supply.

6. The City and Peak Water Supply has about reached the limit of its capacity, ie, if such a dry period as that experienced during 1894-1896 were to recur there would be scarcity. The present supply (1920) is fully 7 million gallons a day. The water required for the proposed Water Carriage Services to the Peak and Middle Levels amounts to 5 and 22 million gallous a year, respectively. One inch of water on an acre amounts to 22,000 gallons. In the driest recorded year at least 20 inches of rain can be collected in Hongkong, so that the above amounts can be collected respectively from 12 and 50 acres. The present gathering ground of the City and Hill District Water Works amounts to 2,561 acres. There is however an area of about 2,600 acres in the neigh- bourhood of Taitam which is available for catchwatering and which may be reckoned on to increase the supply (without further reservoirs) from its present figure of 7 millions to 10 millions a day.

day. A catchwater to intercept the water from about 300 acres of the above 2,600 acres at a cost of $70,000 is now in contemplation; this will provide an additional supply of at least 130 million gallons a year and will take no longer to carry out than the works necessary for supplying at a much greater cost (8417,000) 27 million gallons of Salt Water a year.

(b.)-Peak District:

The sanitary advantage to the Peak owing to its scattered location and the long carry for fæcal matter, is so great and the amount of water required is so small that a Public Water Carriage System using fresh water might with advantage be adopted there as soon as the necessary additions to the Peak pumping plant, now on order, are installed.

(c.)-Middle Levels.

In the Middle Levels the amount of water required is a more serious matter and the sanitary advantage less, and it seems that a Public Water Carriage System using fresh water should remain in abeyance there till an adequate extension of the Taitam gathering ground has been put in hand.

7. The Kowloon Works will produce-1.7 million gallons a day in the driest recorded year and can be considerably extended at a comparatively small cost. The present supply is about 13 million gallons a day. The Water Supply in Kowloon is therefore still fairly ahead of present requirements, but in view of the rapid growth of the district a Water Carriage System using fresh water should not be installed until extensions of the present Water Works are put in hand.