For discussion PWSC(96-97)77
on 18 December 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 709 - WATERWORKS
Water Supplies - Combined fresh/salt water supply project
79WC - Additional trunk transfer facilities to Kowloon eastern areas and water supply to Anderson Road Quarries site development - stage 1

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 79WC to Category A at an estimated cost of $443.9 million in money-of-the-day prices.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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PROBLEM

By 2000, the existing water supply facilities serving the Kowloon eastern areas¹ will be unable to cope with the anticipated increase in water demand arising from the planned developments in the areas.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Water Supplies (DWS), with the support of the Secretary for Works, proposes to upgrade 79WC to Category A at an estimated cost of $443.9 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the provision of additional facilities to transfer more fresh water to the Kowloon eastern areas and to extend fresh and salt water supplies to the housing developments at the Po Lam Road and the Lee On Road platforms formed by rehabilitation of the Anderson Road Quarries.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The scope of the project comprises -

1. construction of the Tsui Lam fresh water pumping station with a capacity of 122 500 cubic metres per day;
2. uprating of the existing Shun Lee Tsuen fresh water pumping station to a capacity of 7 600 cubic metres per day;
3. modification to the monitoring and control systems at the existing Lam Tin high level fresh water service reservoir, Kwun Tong high level fresh water service reservoir, Ngau Chi Wan high level fresh water service reservoir and Shum Wan Shan fresh water pumping station;
4. laying of about 6.3 kilometres of fresh water trunk mains of diameter ranging from 600 to 1 200 millimetres from Tseung Kwan O to Ngau Chi Wan;
5. construction of the Anderson Road No. 2 fresh water service reservoir with a capacity of 15 000 cubic metres;
6. laying of about 4.5 kilometres of fresh water distribution mains of diameter ranging from 450 to 600 millimetres from the Anderson Road No. 2 fresh water service reservoir to the Lee On Road and the Po Lam Road platforms; and
7. laying of about 2 kilometres of salt water distribution mains of 250 millimetres diameter from the existing salt watermains network in Sau Mau Ping to the Lee On Road and the Po Lam Road platforms.

JUSTIFICATION

4. At present, the trunk transfer facilities transferring fresh water from the Tseung Kwan O primary service reservoir² to secondary service reservoirs are able to meet the fresh water demand of Kowloon eastern areas which is 269 000 cubic metres per day. Given the rapid development in the areas, DWS anticipates that the daily fresh water demand of the areas will increase to 283 000 cubic metres by 2000, and to 330 000 cubic metres beyond 2003. There will be a shortfall in fresh water supply of 14 000 cubic metres per day by 2000, which will increase to 61 000 cubic metres per day by 2003. Thus, we plan to provide additional transfer facilities as detailed in paragraph 3 (a) to (d) to meet the projected growth in fresh water demand beyond 2003.

5. Among the various developments in the areas are planned housing developments on the platforms formed by rehabilitation of the Anderson Road Quarries, including the Po Lam Road and the Lee On Road platforms. These developments will give rise to an additional population of about 35 000 and will generate daily fresh and salt water demands of approximately 14 800 and 2 400 cubic metres respectively. At present, there is no fresh and salt water supplies in the areas. To cope with the new demands, DWS proposes to provide the fresh and salt water distribution systems, as detailed in paragraph 3 (e) to (g), for the new developments at the Po Lam Road and the Lee On Road platforms prior to the intake of population. The first stage of the population intake for the two platforms is currently scheduled to commence in 2000 and 2004 respectively.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

6. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $443.9 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 7 below), made up as follows -

7. Subject to approval, we will phase the expenditure as follows -

8. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government’s forecasts of trend labour and construction prices over the period between 1996 to 2003. We shall invite tenders for the supply of pipe materials and mechanical and electrical plants under fixed-price lump-sum contracts. We will tender the civil works under standard re-measurement contracts because most of the works are underground and it is not possible to ascertain the exact quantities of works in advance of construction. We will provide for adjustment due to inflation in the contracts because the construction period will last longer than 21 months.

9. We estimate the annual recurrent expenditure to be $13.7 million.

10. This project by itself would lead to an increase in water charges by a maximum of 0.7% in real terms by 2003³.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

11. We consulted the Kwun Tong District Board (KTDB) on 5 February 1996. The Board had no objection to this project. We also consulted the Traffic and Transport Committee of the Sai Kung District Board (SKDB) on 15 February 1996. The Committee supported the proposed works in principle. Members of KTDB and SKDB had expressed concern on the arrangements regarding safety, environmental protection, noise and traffic aspects during the construction period. We will control these aspects through the implementation of standard control clauses in relevant works contracts and keep the relevant District Board informed during the progress of the works.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

12. DWS completed a Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) of this project in March 1995 and concluded that the operation of facilities constructed under this project would have limited adverse impacts on the environment. The Director of Environmental Protection vetted the PER and agreed that an Environmental Impact Assessment would not be necessary in view of the nature and scope of the project. For the proper disposal of washwater arising from the cleaning of the Anderson Road No. 2 fresh water service reservoir during operation, DWS will implement mitigation measures recommended by the ‘Feasibility Study on Cleaning and Disinfection of Service Reservoirs and Disposal of the Effluent’ which is expected to be completed by the end of 1996. For short term impacts, DWS will control noise, dust and site run-off nuisances during construction to comply with established standards and guidelines through the implementation of standard environmental pollution control clauses in the relevant works contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

13. The project requires clearance of 2.85 hectares government land for the construction of the Anderson Road No. 2 fresh water service reservoir but the clearance will not affect any households. We will charge the estimated clearance cost of $60,000 to Head 701 - Land Acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

14. We upgraded this project to Category B in September 1995.

15. We have substantially completed the detailed design work for the project, in-house. We plan to start the construction works in July 1997 for completion by December 1999 to meet the expected fresh and salt water demands in the area in 2000. However, we cannot complete a portion of the proposed mainlaying works of a total of 750 metres at Sau Mau Ping Road and Shun Ching Street by December 1999 because these locations are subject to road opening restrictions and we have to carry out the works there at a slower pace. We aim to complete laying this portion of the water mains in 2001.

(HH454)

1 -- Kowloon eastern areas comprise Lam Tin, Kwun Tong, Ngau Chi Wan, Ngau Tau Kok, Jordan Valley, Kowloon Bay, Yau Tong, Cha Kwo Ling, Sau Mau Ping and Anderson Road Quarries.
2 -- The fresh water treated at the Pak Kong treatment works is stored in the primary service reservoir near Tseung Kwan O. From the primary service reservoir, the fresh water is then transferred to secondary service reservoirs by gravity or pumping to serve Tseun Kwan O and its hinterland, eastern Hong Kong Island and Kowloon eastern areas.
3 -- The water charges are calculated on the assumption that the demand remains static during the period from 1996 to 2003 and the amount of Government subsidy to the waterworks operations is to be contained at the present level.

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