ENG-1960 — Page 24

REVIEW

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Shortage of pipes and other equipment seriously hampered this work and when the programme got under way in 1950 it soon merged with the major improvements of the distribution system required by the planned expansion of storage capacity. During the period 1950 to 1960, the Colony spent approximately $11.75 million on the replacement and extension of mains, apart from the considerable cost of the trunk mains laid as part of major projects to increase urban supplies. Side by side with these developments, work went ahead on modernizing and increasing the capacity of pumping and filtration plants.

It should be mentioned that Hong Kong has not overlooked the possibility of augmenting urban supplies by the use of under- ground sources. During a visit in 1948 Dr F. Dixey, Geological Adviser to the Secretary of State, was asked to report whether the Tai Lam scheme, which was expected to provide an additional 20 million gallons a day, could be replaced by an underground scheme on the island or on the mainland, or both. He advised that there was no prospect whatever of so large an amount of water being obtained by this means, and he saw no prospect of obtaining water in the quantities then required except by means of a surface scheme such as that at Tai Lam. The question was then dropped for a while, only to be raised again in 1949 when Tai Lam was still some years away and the position was once more becoming increasingly ominous. At the end of that year Government decided to order deep boring equipment in the hope of locating underground supplies which could produce up to 3 million gallons a day in a critical situation even this quantity might be vital. At that time suitable equipment was hard to find, delivery dates were long, and it was not until 1953 that experi- mental borings began. The project was abandoned without any encouraging results early in 1955. In the following year a fresh approach was made, this time in an attempt to meet the needs of cultivators in the New Territories who might encounter restricted water supplies as a result of the Tai Lam scheme. On this occasion an experienced firm of drillers was engaged. By February 1959 they had sunk fifteen wells to various depths, of which eight were productive, but only to the extent of 400,000 gallons a day. It is unlikely that any further effort will be expended in this way, for in the meantime the Tai Lam supply has come into use, while