A GROUP of students who took part in the first Hong Kong-Canada School Environmental Pairing Project were astonished by the poor water quality of the territory's infamous harbour, and advocated early environmental protection education for students.
The five-day programme, held last month, arose from an agreement between the Governments of Hong Kong and Canada made in 1992 and was a joint project organised by Environment Canada, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and the Education Department.
Twelve Form Six students from Queen's College and St Paul's Co-educational College collected and analysed water samples from Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kwun Tong, Tso Wo Hang (Sai Kung) and Wong Shek (Sai Kung) and assessed a number of water quality indicators.
Meanwhile, students in Vancouver also carried out analysis on their local water and exchanged data and experiences with Hong Kong students by telephone, electronic mail and fax.
The findings showed lower dissolved oxygen concentrations in the bottom waters of Victoria Harbour than in other Hong Kong locations with less pollution. ''These low dissolved oxygen concentrations indicate there is organic pollution in Victoria Harbour,'' said Albert Sin Ching-pong of Queen's College.
The bacterial condition of waters in the Harbour was also found unsatisfactory. Ng Wan-ying of St Paul's Co-educational College said some high bacteria concentrations reflected faecal pollution, which posed a health risk to anyone coming into contact with the water.
