Water main repair was a difficult job
I refer to the letter by Susan Madon ('Left in the dark over burst pipes', February 19).
On the morning of February 8, a 600mm diameter water main at Wong Chuk Hang Road supplying fresh water to the service reservoirs serving Shouson Hill, Repulse Bay and Chung Hom Kok, burst. Initially, water supply to these areas could still be sustained because of the water remaining in the service reservoirs. Our initial estimate was that the repair would be completed by 6am on February 9 and only the water supply to Shouson Hill would be affected after 9.30pm on February 8. We thus served advance notice of the anticipated supply suspension through radio and television announcements. We also arranged for a temporary water supply to the affected customers by water tanks and wagons.
However, as we opened the road surface, we found the site congested with numerous underground utilities including gas mains, high voltage cables and another, large-diameter water main. As the repair was going to take much longer to complete and the water supply to Chung Hom Kok and Repulse Bay would also be affected, we immediately arranged modification works to the supply system to provide supply to the affected areas from two alternative sources: one for Chung Hom Kok and part of Repulse Bay and another for Shouson Hill and the remaining part of Repulse Bay.
As the respective service reservoirs became depleted, the water supply to Chung Hom Kok and Repulse Bay was suspended from 1pm and 3.30pm on February 9 respectively.
We announced through radio and TV the water supply suspension with an anticipated supply resumption time of 10pm that evening. Temporary supply by water tanks and wagons was arranged. When the modification works for the provision of alternative supply to Chung Hom Kok and part of Repulse Bay were completed as scheduled, normal water supply to these areas was progressively resumed by 10pm.
As the modification works for the provision of alternative supply to Shouson Hill and the remaining part of Repulse Bay were relatively more complex, we issued a press release in the evening of February 9 to inform the affected customers that the water supply suspension would continue overnight.