The government lost HK$80.8 million in water charges due to inaccurate metering and another HK$79.2 million in illegal water consumption last year, the Director of Audit reported yesterday.
Water theft cost the Water Supplies Department 17.3 million cubic metres of water - almost 2 per cent of last year's total freshwater supply. Convictions increased 52 per cent, to 91 in 2010 from 60 in 2008.
Much of the illegal water use occurred at markets under the jurisdiction of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. The number of convictions rose to 18, from four, in the three years ending last year.
In one case, a restaurant in a cooked food market was convicted three times in two years for illegal water use. But the Water Supplies Department, which runs such investigations, did not alert the food department, which operates the market.
That meant hygiene officials lost the chance to warn the shop owner about further offences. The department can stop renting a shop to anyone who receives three warnings within six months.
The director of audit urged the departments to improve communications to deter further water theft.
In other cases, water illegally acquired was used in manufacturing, construction, cleaning and irrigation work. A large amount went to flushing toilets, resulting in 48 convictions from 2008 to 2010. Charges recovered from water prosecutions amounted to HK$1.5 million.