The water at the new government headquarters in Admiralty is safe to use, a microbiology specialist says, after tests conducted following disinfection found all but one of more than 200 samples free of a potentially fatal bacteria.
The assurance came as the health minister announced five more locations, including the toilet of the chief secretary, had tested positive before the disinfection.
No abnormalities were detected in the potable water system, said Yuen Kwok-yung, the University of Hong Kong's head of microbiology. Yuen said hyperchlorination, the use of chlorine to disinfect water, had reduced the bacterial count to a low level.
'We have determined that the water at Tamar is safe,' he said.
A team formed by HKU and Queen Mary Hospital took 227 post-disinfection samples from showers and taps last week. Yuen said the sample that tested positive contained a 'very low' concentration of Legionella pneumophila - 0.128 bacteria per millilitre of sample. Such a result can be due to dead bacteria.
Doubts were cast on the cleanliness of the water at the headquarters after education minister Michael Suen Ming-yeung was diagnosed with legionnaires' disease last month. The bug was found in his toilet and elsewhere.