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Island Sewage Treatment Works. The treatment plant will be expanded to provide centralised chemical treatment to sewage from the entire HATS catchment with fast track provision of part of the disinfection facilities which were commissioned in December 2009. The critical works of the HATS Stage 2A have commenced construction in 2009 and the whole project is targeted for completion in 2014. Under the second phase (HATS Stage 2B), biological treatment facilities will be provided on an adjacent site, the implementation programme being based on the results of a review in 2010-11 of water quality trends and population and sewage flow build-up.

Details of HATS are available on the 'A Clean Harbour for Hong Kong' website, www.cleanharbour.gov.hk.

Apart from HATS, the Government has spent a further $18 billion on other sewerage schemes since 1991 and will spend another $12 billion on schemes over the next five years. These include sewerage for rural villages. Under the Water Pollution Control (Sewerage) Regulation, the EPD is empowered to direct house owners to connect their waste water pipes to new public sewers. Since the regulation came into force at the end of 1995, about 6 000 village houses have already made connections to the public sewers.

Sewage Charges

All water users who discharge their sewage into public sewers have to pay a basic sewage charge in accordance with the polluter-pays principle. Also, 30 trades and industries whose effluent strength exceeds that of domestic sewage, have to pay a trade effluent surcharge reflecting the additional cost of treating their stronger effluent. These charges are used to recover the operation and maintenance costs of sewage collection, treatment, and disposal facilities, while the Government provides funds for construction.

In May 2007, the Government's proposals to gradually increase the sewage charge for handling domestic waste water over a 10-year time frame was approved by the legislature. This reflects the community's continued support of the polluter- pays principle and joint commitment to further enhancing the water environment. The average bill for domestic accounts will rise from the 2007 level of $11 per month to $27 per month over a period of 10 years.

Livestock Waste Pollution

The Waste Disposal Ordinance bans the keeping of livestock in new towns and environmentally sensitive areas. Where they are allowed, livestock farms must have proper waste treatment systems. The Government provides a free livestock waste collection service which collected about 19 000 tonnes of waste during the year.

From a public health and environmental protection standpoint, livestock farming in urbanised Hong Kong is not sustainable in the long term. To address the problem, the Government has introduced licence-surrender schemes to encourage poultry and pig farmers to cease permanently the keeping of poultry and pigs. Livestock farmers are given ex gratia payments and the schemes are entirely voluntary.