Water Supply from the Mainland

Although Hong Kong's freshwater is derived both from domestic sources and imported from the Mainland, the majority is supplied by pipeline from Guangdong Province's Dongjiang (East River) to treatment works in Hong Kong prior to distribution under the control of the Water Supplies Department (WSD). Table 3.4b below shows the amount and proportions of water supplied to Hong Kong from these sources in recent years. Under the present water supply agreement, which extends to 2010, the Dongjiang system will supply up to 1,100 Mm3 per year to Hong Kong.

Source: Water Supplies Department data provided for SUSDEV 21

Water has been supplied to Hong Kong from the Dongjiang source since the first bilateral agreement with the Mainland in 1960. Since that time five agreements (including the present agreement), and several amendments, have ensured that the Dongjiang acts as a supplemental source of freshwater to augment local resources. Water is abstracted from this river, and pumped for approximately 83 kilometres through a series of dams built across the Shima River, one of the tributaries of the Dongjiang, to the Shenzhen Reservoir. After being piped across the boundary with the Mainland at Muk Wu, water is then pumped along one of three aqueduct systems: a western route to Tai Lam Chung Reservoir; a central route to either Sha Tin Treatment Works or Plover Cove Reservoir; and an eastern route to either High Island Reservoir or Pak Kong Treatment Works. These three routes are inter-connected to provide maximum flexibility in system operation throughout the year and are particularly useful during the annual Guangdong water shutdown period in December.