ENG-1954 — Page 219

Chapter 14

Public Utilities and

Public Works

Public Utilities

Waterworks

The Colony's water supply is the responsibility of the Public Works Department. As there are no large rivers or underground sources of water in the Colony the population is entirely dependent for its supply of water upon the rainfall which is collected in reservoirs. There are thirteen reservoirs in the Colony which together can hold 5,970 million gallons. 2,362 million gallons are stored on Hong Kong Island and the remainder in the New Territories. Jubilee Reservoir at Shing Mun in the New Territories is by far the largest in the Colony, having a dam 275 feet in height and a water storage capacity of 2,921 million gallons. The reservoirs are fed by 35 miles of catch-water channels which run along the mid-levels of various hill sides to divert rainfall to the reservoirs. The reservoirs are usually filled during the summer months in the season of the south-west monsoon but even so the present resources are insufficient to meet the demands of a population which has increased so greatly since 1946. Water shortage and rationing unfortunately are now accepted as part of the normal state of affairs in the winter. Although there were heavy rains in the latter part of 1953 and it was unnecessary to reduce the hours of supply during the winter of 1953/54 to below 7 hours per day, the summer rains failed in 1954, and

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