Update | Water samples to be taken from 10 Hong Kong public housing estates in bid to allay residents’ fears over lead
Task force launched to reassure residents, not because levels pose health risk, says housing chief
In an unprecedented move to reassure Hong Kong's public housing residents over a spreading lead contamination scare, the government will collect tap water samples for testing from 10 more estates involving about 24,000 households.
It will also set up a task force comprising experts and representatives from different departments to probe the discovery of excessive levels of lead in three public rental estates - Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City, Kwai Luen Estate in Kwai Chung, and Shui Chuen O Estate in Sha Tin.
Housing minister Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung yesterday stressed the government was taking action "simply to ease residents' concerns, and not because evidence had been found pointing to unacceptable lead levels in drinking water" at the estates.
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Cheung said the focus was on covering all Housing Authority estates built after 2013 as they were completed around the same time as the first two estates where the contamination was initially discovered.
Although Kwai Luen Estate Phase 1 was completed prior to 2013, it will be included in the list since excessive levels of lead were found in water samples from Phase 2 of the development, which was completed after 2013.
While the World Health Organisation standard is 10 micrograms per litre, samples from the affected estates contained lead at levels of between 10.8 and 35.1 micrograms per litre, but the government has assured the public the water is still safe.
The government has yet to identify the source of the contamination, but officials have suggested it could be traced to lead-containing substances binding joints in water pipes and banned soldering material.
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The housing minister ruled out the possibility of expanding the tests to all estates, public or private, across the city: "In any case, we don't have resources to do territory-wide testing and at the moment … we have to use our resources appropriately."
Democratic Party lawmaker Wu Chi-wai found it reasonable for the government to do the testing in phases. "If the government launches a territory-wide test now, how long will it take to complete it?" he asked, noting that water testing at private estates would be more complicated as that would involve property ownership issues.
Residents of Kwai Luen Estate, who have been collecting water in buckets and other containers for their daily needs, expressed worries about the possible health impact on young children in particular. One resident said his two-year-old son had become "less responsive and slow in learning" since moving into a Phase 2 flat at the estate.
Residents at Shui Chuen O Estate remained jittery yesterday, even though the lead content in 10 new water samples tested by the government was found to be acceptable.
List of public housing estates where tap water samples will be collected for lead testing:
- Wing Cheong Estate, Sham Shui Po
- Mei Tin Estate (Phase 4), Tai Wai
- Shek Lai (II) Estate (Shek Foon House), Kwai Hing
- Fung Wo Estate, Sha Tin
- Tak Long Estate, Kai Tak
- Mei Tung Estate (Mei Tak House), Lok Fu
- Yee Ming Estate, Tseung Kwan O
- Cheung Lung Wai Estate, Sheung Shui
- Hung Fuk Estate, Tin Shui Wai
- Kwai Luen Estate (Phase 1), Kwai Chung
