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

Registered consumers should submit their applications 14 days before the actual date of account termination. Applications can be made in the Form WWO 243 or in a letter, which should specify the date of termination and the forwarding address, or through internet if the registered consumers are of domestic supply and the accounts are registered in the name of a person but not in the name of a company. For application made in Form WWO243 or in a letter, the applications should be signed by the registered consumers and the completed application form or the letter together with the deposit receipt (if any) 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 supply (In the name of a person but not in the name of a company) may also call our customer service officers of WSD Enquiry Hotline for processing of termination with 14 days' advance notice.

Upon receipt of the application for termination, WSD may require the taking of final reading and the final bill will be issued within 3 clear working days after the final reading is obtained. Any outstanding water, sewage charges or related charges will be deducted from the deposit. In general, the deposit balance, if any, will be refunded to him/her in 9 working days upon the issue of final bill by means of a crossed cheque.

If a domestic consumer will soon leave Hong Kong for good and is unable to await the refund of the deposit balance which is less than $500, he/she can bring along his/her Hong Kong Identity Card, the deposit receipt (if any) and any relevant documents in support of his/her departure and visit our Wan Chai Customer Enquiry Centre. Special arrangement will be made to refund the deposit balance to him/her as soon as possible.

Registered consumers are required to pay a deposit for their water supplies. Once their applications for water supplies are approved, they will receive a demand note for the water deposit.

For domestic supply, the deposit is $400. For trade supply, the amount varies depending on the nature of the business, but the minimum is $1,000. If the deposit is insufficient to cover the recent consumption pattern of 2 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.

Please note that the water deposit is not transferable nor interest bearing. It will only be refunded to the registered consumer after deduction of the outstanding water and sewage charges upon account termination.

If you are not the registered consumer of the account and you receive a demand note requiring additional deposit, you are advised to ask the registered consumer to settle the demand note or to take up the consumership of the account by yourself. To do so, you have to complete and return a Form WWO 1 together with the deposit demand note to us. For completion of the WWO 1 form, you may refer to the classfications of Water Consumer Account - Business Account Categories.

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

If the deposit demanded amounts to $15,000 or more, you may apply for bank guarantee by completing a Form WWO 233, which is obtainable in any of our Customer Enquiry Centres. Any cash deposit previously paid by you will be refunded after the completion of bank guarantee application.