ENG-2002 — Page 340

THE ENVIRONMENT

284

Sewerage Master Plans

Hong Kong has been divided into 16 areas for which sewerage master plans have been drawn up. These works are being carried out in a phased improvement programme. Construction work under the Chai Wan and Shau Kei Wan sewerage master plan was the first to be completed, in 1997. This was followed by the Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi sewerage master plan in 1998, the Hong Kong Island South sewerage master plan in 2000 and the East Kowloon sewerage master plan in 2001. The Government aims to implement the remaining plans by around 2009.

To meet needs arising from revised population projections and the Government's development plans, the EPD has been reviewing the sewerage master plans for various areas. Reviews for Central and East Kowloon, Tsing Yi, Tuen Mun, Outlying Islands, Hong Kong Island and North District and Tolo Harbour area are under way. These reviews aim to check the adequacy of the plans and to identify additional sewerage infrastructure to meet future development needs.

Sewer connections to individual properties are still in progress. Improvements in several parts of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories are well under way. Under the Water Pollution Control (Sewerage) Regulation, the EPD may require house owners to connect their wastewater pipes to new public sewers. In 2002, wastewater from 854 people was directed to public sewers so as to avoid water pollution. Since the regulation came into force at the end of 1995, wastewater from 51 039 people has been connected to public sewers.

Sewage Charges

All water users who discharge their sewage to public sewers pay a basic sewage charge. In addition, 30 trades and industries whose effluent strength exceeds that of domestic sewage also pay a trade effluent surcharge to reflect the additional cost for treating their stronger effluent. These charges aim at recovering partially the operation and maintenance costs of sewage collection, treatment, and disposal facilities. The Government continues to provide funds for capital costs for these facilities from its Capital Works Reserve Fund. The household sewage charge in 2002 was a modest $1.20 per cubic metre of water consumed with an exemption for the first 12 cubic metres consumed in a four-month billing period. As a one-off concession in the 2002-03 financial year, the sewage charge payable by each registered customer during the financial year was reduced by an amount not exceeding $200 and $800 for domestic and non-domestic purposes respectively, whereas the trade effluent surcharge payable was reduced by a flat rate of 30 per cent.

Bathing Beaches

Bathing beaches are an important recreational resource. To protect the health of swimmers, the Government has adopted strict standards for water quality control at bathing beaches. These standards relate to pollution measured as E. coli (the bacteria that can indicate the presence of sewage) and were devised after a thorough study of the health risk facing local bathers. The following table shows how beaches were classified in 2001 and 2002. Beaches in the 'good' and 'fair' categories meet the Government's water quality objective for bathing.