Closure of Accounts

When a registered consumer ceases to be the owner tenant or occupier of the premises, he/she should inform Water Supplies Department (WSD) of his/her intention to close the water account and apply for refund of the deposit. The liabilities of the registered consumer will be discharged upon closure of the account.

Registered consumers should submit their applications at least 14 days before the intended account closure dates. Applications can be made with Form WWO 1145 or Form WWO 243 or by a letter advising the account closure date and a forwarding address. If the accounts are of domestic supplies and registered in the name of a person but not in the name of a company, the closure of accounts can also be made through the Internet. If a registered consumer does not give 14 days' advance notice, the Water Supplies Department will not be able to take the final meter reading on the account closure date and the final bill will be based on an estimated consumption. To avoid disputes arising from consumption estimation, registered consumers - particularly those who cannot meet the advance notice requirement -are strongly advised to try to contact the new occupants, direct or through property agents, to agree on a date of change of consumership, take the meter reading and jointly complete Form WWO 1145 for the change of consumership. The final bills of the existing consumers and the first bills of the new consumers will then be based on the agreed meter readings. Completed application forms or letters together with the deposit receipt (if any) or Form WWO 213 should be sent to WSD either by post or by fax or in person to any of our Customer Enquiry Centres. Registered consumers of domestic accounts which are in the name of a person but not in the name of a company may also call our customer service officers through our Enquiry Hotline for applying account closure.

Upon receipt of an application for account closure, WSD will arrange for taking of final reading. The final bill will be issued within 3 clear working days after the account closure date . Any outstanding water, sewage charges or related charges will be deducted from the deposit. In general, the deposit balance, if any, will be refunded by crossed cheque to the Registered Consumer -if a forwarding address is provided - within 9 clear working days upon the issue of the final bill.

If the registered consumer of a domestic account will soon leave Hong Kong for good and is unable to await the refund of the deposit balance not exceeding $500, he/she may visit our Wan Chai Customer Enquiry Centre with his/her Hong Kong Identity Card, the deposit receipt (if any) and any relevant documents in support of his/her departure. Special arrangements will be made to refund the deposit balance to him/her as soon as possible.

Water Deposit Matters

Registered consumers are required to pay deposits for their water supplies. Once their applications for water supplies are approved, they will receive a water deposit demand note for the water account and thereafter regular demand notes for water charges for the water consumed.

For domestic accounts, the deposit is $400. For trade accounts, the deposit amount varies depending on the nature of the business, but the minimum is $1,000. If the deposit of a trade account is insufficient to cover the recent consumption of two billing periods or the minimum deposit of $1,000, whichever is the higher, the registered consumer will be required to pay an additional water deposit to make it up to $1000, or an amount to cover the consumption of the account over two billing periods, whichever is the higher.

Please note that the water deposit is neither transferable nor interest bearing. It will only be refunded to the registered consumer after deduction of the outstanding water and sewage charges and the related charges upon closure of account.

If you are not the registered consumer of the account and you receive a demand note requiring payment of an additional deposit, you are advised to ask the registered consumer to settle the demand note or to take up the account yourself. If you wish to take up the account, you have to complete and return either Form WWO 1145 for a joint application of a change of consumership with the existing consumer or the Form WWO 1 together with the deposit demand note to us. For completion of the forms, applicants for trade accounts may refer to the classification of Water Consumer Account - Business Account Categories.

Payment of water deposit can be made by post, through PPS (by phone or Internet), Bank Automated Teller Machine, through Internet or in person. For details, please read the back of your demand note.

If the deposit demand amounts to $15,000 or more, you may wish to consider applying for a bank guarantee in lieu of monetary payment by completing a Form WWO 233, which may be obtained in any of our Customer Enquiry Centres. Any cash deposits previously paid by you will be refunded after the acceptance of the bank guarantee application.