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Hong Kong water supply
OpinionLetters

Letters | Why Hong Kong must stop wasting water right now: don’t wait for the drought

  • Our wasteful water-use habits must change, as climate and demographic changes are bound to affect our supply of fresh water from mainland China
  • Uncertainties such as pollution and competition from the fast-growing Pearl River Delta population should not be overlooked

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Dried up fish ponds in Tai Sang Wai, Yuen Long, during an extended period of hot weather in June 2018. Photo: Winson Wong
Letters

Water is basic to human survival. Today, March 22, is World Water Day. Its theme is “Leaving No One Behind”.

To many people living in developed economies, fresh water seems an abundant natural resource that does not need conserving. But, according to the World Health Organisation, 2.1 billion people cannot get safe drinking water at home on a daily basis.
In 1963, when Hong Kong suffered a severe drought, fresh water was available for just four hours every four days! Today, we are paying more than double the unit production cost of locally collected rainwater to buy water from Dongjiang, which accounts for nearly 80 per cent of our total water consumption.
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Blessed with the seemingly unfailing water supply, our average daily per person fresh water consumption was around 132 litres in 2015, which is a massive 21 per cent higher than the global average.

Although the mainland authorities have emphasised that they will keep supplying Hong Kong with enough water as a political mission, there are many uncertainties, such as climate change, pollution and competition from the fast-growing Pearl River Delta population. These should not be overlooked.

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There is an old Chinese saying: plan before it rains. Applying such wisdom to our water risks, we should plan before a drought happens.

The water management strategy formulated by the Water Supplies Department emphasised promoting conservation, followed by developing new resources. This was moving in the right direction, but we need to move faster.

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