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CONTENTS
News of Customer Liaison Group (CLG)• 77th Meeting
Updates• First Pilot Floating Photovoltaic (PV) System in Hong Kong
Event Review• Members of Tuen Mun District Council Visit Tuen Mun Water Treatment Works • Race for Water 2017• Seminars on Water Use Tips• Water Forum 2017: Climate Resilience – Sponge City
Focus• Voluntary Labelling Scheme for Approved Plumbing
Products
Interflow Visit•Delegations
Waterlink M AY 2 0 1 7 > I S S U E 77
EVENT REVIEWFOCUS
Race for Water 2017
T o mark the 22 March World Water Day, A Drop Of Life organised its 5th Race for Water on 12 March. Participants in the race were required to carry 4.5 litres
of bottled water on their back and run through arduous hilly trails, experiencing for themselves the hardship of travelling long distances to fetch water to appreciate the preciousness of each drop of water. The event aimed to enhance public awareness towards water conservation and raise funds for building water supply or purifying facilities in arid mountainous areas of Nepal and Cambodia.
A Drop Of Life, like WSD, strives to promote water conservation to the public. We are therefore supportive of activities it organises. WSD colleagues participated in the race to promote water conservation and raise funds for villagers in arid mountainous areas.
INTERFLOW VISIT
Delegations
During the past few months, the following delegations visited the Department to exchange experience and knowledge on the latest water treatment technologies and water supply management:
DELEGATION DATEOFVISIT LOCATION
Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong 7/2/2017
Ma On Shan Water Treatment Works
Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University 23/2/2017
Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong 7/3/2017
Department of Applied Science,The Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Kwai Chung)
9/3/2017Environmental Science Programme, School of Life Science,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, Young Members Committee 11/3/2017 Tuen Mun Hydropower Plant
The School of Professional Education and Executive Development of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 21/3/2017 Ma On Shan Water Treatment Works
The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited 28/3/2017 Ngau Tam Mei Water Treatment Works
Waterlink M AY 2 0 1 7 > I S S U E 77
24-hourtelephoneenquiryhotline: 2824 5000 • Faxhotlines: 2519 3864 (for water supply and general matters) / 2802 7333 (for billing and consumership matters) Website: www.wsd.gov.hk • E-mail: [email protected] • Correspondenceaddress: Water Supplies Department, Immigration Tower, 7 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong • Editor: Public Relations Unit • Free copies of Waterlink can be obtained from Customer Enquiry Centres of the Water Supplies Department / Home Affairs Department • All WSD publications can be browsed on the WSD website.
77th Meeting
T he 77th meeting of the CLG was held on 14 January this year at the
Ma On Shan Water Treatment Works (MOSWTW). Following a guided tour to MOSWTW, two presentations were also given to the members.
The first presentation was about “Handling of Ceiling Seepage in
Buildings”. Common causes of water seepage include leakage of water pipes
or drainage pipes, rainwater seeping in from external walls, deteriorated waterproofing of
floor slabs or the roof, and defective seals of bathtub resulting in water accumulating on floor slabs.
If seepage is originated from water supply pipes, the amount of water leaking due to aging or rusting will increase incessantly as the pipes of the inside service are under pressure, whereas water seepage involves only dry water marks, damp patches, dripping of unclear water or fluctuating rate of dripping may be due to sources other than water supply pipes.
Consumers may seek assistance from the “Joint Office” formed by the Buildings Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department as it could provide one-stop service, including site investigation and testing, in dealing with complaints of seepage in buildings.
Consumers shall be responsible for maintaining individual plumbing systems inside their premises. If waste of water arising from the leakage of water supply pipes is confirmed, the Water Authority will demand the registered consumer concerned to hire licensed plumbers to conduct repair works to the defective pipes immediately.
Another presentation was given to members on “Mandatory Use of Devices Registered under the Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme (WELS)”.
After the launch of Voluntary WELS, the Water Supplies Department (WSD) planned to further promote water saving by introducing
NEWS OF CUSTOMERLIAISON GROUP (CLG)
Voluntary Labelling Scheme for Approved Plumbing Products
W SD launched in April the voluntary labelling scheme for General Acceptance (GA) products. After submitting application for a GA product’s participation
in the scheme, the supplier is required to affix a label designed by WSD on the product package or the counter of the shops for identification by the public. Each label is printed with a QR code for retrieval of information about the product such as its country of origin, GA expiry date, and quality assurance details via smartphones. The scheme will be implemented in stages with water taps and mixers to be introduced at the first stage. WSD will invite more suppliers to participate in the scheme. Details of the scheme are available on WSD’s website (www.wsd.gov.hk/en/plumbing_and_engineering/fittings_to_be_installed_or_use/guideline/index.html).
Mandatory WELS in phases starting from early 2017.
At the first stage of the mandatory use of WELS products, for all proposed plumbing works submitted using the Form WWO 46 for designated part of premises (i.e. kitchens of the domestic premises and bathrooms and toilets of all premises), the proposed products to be used for showers for bathing, water taps and urinal flushing valves should comply with the prescribed water efficiency grading registered under WELS.
WSD conducted various assessment, group discussion and interviews with different stakeholder groups to collect views towards the scheme. Several mitigation measures, including the allowance of a 12-month grace period, granting of exemption to cases where proper justifications could be provided, exclusion of commercial kitchens from the scheme, recognition of water saving devices registered in other jurisdictions, and acceptance of alternative of installing inside the water tap or shower for bathing a flow controller registered under WELS and of appropriate water efficiency grade to form a “combined” water saving device, will be adopted in response to the difficulties so identified.
At the second stage, relevant legislative amendments will be made and the scheme will be extended to the retail market, such that plumbing fixtures and water-consuming appliances for sale should be registered a water efficiency label in future so as to facilitate consumers in making their choices for water conservation.
Seminars on Water Use Tips
To further promote and enhance understanding of respective parties on the tips for water use and using wall-mounted dispensers, WSD
organised 4 identical seminars for kindergartens, kindergarten-cum-child care centres, residential institutions, day centres and child care centres on 17, 18 & 20 January 2017 focusing on two topics, namely “Ways to ensure water quality and water safety in drinking water” and “Proper use of wall-mounted dispenser”.
> Upon the completion of presentations for each seminar, a Question & Answer session is arranged for speakers to exchange views with the attendees and answer their queries.
> The public can simply use smartphone to scan the QR code on the label.
Water Forum 2017: Climate Change Resilience – Sponge City
To mark the significance of the “World Water Day”, Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong) and WSD co-organised the Water Forum 2017 with the key theme “Climate Change
Resilience - Sponge City” at City Gallery, Central on March 22. Nearly 150 academics and representatives from the business sectors, green groups and professional bodies attended the Forum to give focused discussions on Hong Kong’s readiness to cope with the potential threats against climate change and the total water management strategy in Hong Kong.
> Speakers and audiences exchange views and share experience during the panel discussion and Question and Answer sessions.
> The Director of Water Supplies, Mr Enoch LAM (centre) pictured with speakers and guests attending the forum.
> Over 4,000 participants set off to experience
the hardship of villagers in arid mountainous areas
by running with heavy bottled water on their back.
> Women are not outdone by men. Our female colleagues lift the 4.5-litre bottled water easily.
> WSD’s Waterworks Chemist introduces the bacteria to the visitors.
> WSD’s Mechanical Engineer introduces the distributed control system of Tuen Mun Water Treatment Works to the visitors.
> Chairman of Tuen Mun District Council, Mr LEUNG Kin-man (Front Row: 6th from left), Tuen Mun District Officer, Ms Aubrey FUNG (Front Row: 5th from left) and the Director of Water Supplies, Mr Enoch LAM (Front Row: 7th from left) are pictured with the members, colleagues of the Home Affairs Department, and colleagues of WSD at the rooftop of Tuen Mun Hydropower Plant.
EVENT REVIEW
Members of Tuen Mun District Council Visit Tuen Mun Water Treatment Works
W SD is committed to providing safe drinking water and also attaches great importance to the views of stakeholders to maintain good community
relations. In view of this, the Department invited the Tuen Mun District Council to visit the Tuen Mun Water Treatment Works on 2 March. Through this visit, members were briefed on the technology, water monitoring procedure and application of renewable energy involved in the whole water treatment process. WSD also sought members’ advice on its service.
UPDATES
First Pilot Floating Photovoltaic (PV) System in Hong Kong
WSD commissioned Hong Kong’s first ever PV pilot system at the Shek Pik Reservoir in January this year. In this pilot project, a set of 352 solar PV
panels was installed over the reservoir surface to save both water resources and the environment by renewable energy.
The panels were installed on a floating platform on the reservoir to convert sunlight into electricity, which is supplied to the pumps at the nearby Shek Pik Valve Tower. This system occupying about 1,100m2 (about 0.1% of the total reservoir surface) is designed for an output power of 100kW that would harvest about 120,000 units of electricity annually. It would help save the electricity expenses of the pumping station by 25%, and the amount of yield is equivalent to the annual
electricity consumption of 36 households, thus reducing 84 tonnes of CO2 emission.
Apart from making use of renewable energy for power supply, the PV system that covers some of the reservoir area will help reduce water evaporation of reservoirs and improve water quality by suppressing algae growth. In addition, not being required to be installed on land can reduce the use of precious land resources.
In addition, we planned to install a similar system at the Plover Cove Reservoir, scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017. To evaluate the pilots’ performance, we have commissioned a consultant to review and benchmark the results with overseas experience and to examine the feasibility of implementing large-scale floating solar farms in Hong Kong in future.
> First Pilot floating PV system in Hong Kong at Shek Pik Reservoir.
> Large LED display at the valve tower indicating daily output and accumulative electricity generated of floating PV system at Shek Pik Reservoir.
> Information about the product such as its country of origin and quality assurance details will then be retrieved after successful scan.
