Letters Online: Hong Kong must read water signs, life as a frog, and doctors beyond borders

Will Hong Kong heed global warning signs on water?

Faced with a rising population and demand for water, the Hong Kong government planned to build a reservoir to double its water storage in 1969, and the High Island Reservoir was opened in 1978.

Today, most of us in Hong Kong take a plentiful supply of clean water for granted; however, the signs of a shortage are already beginning to show.

Indisputably, the growing population is a factor leading to a rising demand for water. But the most significant reason for this increasing demand is that our lifestyles have changed drastically over the past few decades. As technology advances, people have gained easy access to clean water. As a result, water is often wasted.

However, many people in the world are still living without access to clean water. In some of the less developed countries, people are not able to get clean, drinkable water from the taps like we do. In Afghanistan, for instance, only about 40 per cent have access to clean drinking water. Consuming unclean water can cause many types of diarrhoeal diseases, including cholera.