Hong Kong's history of public water supply began in 1851 when the first publicly funded wells were sunk. Since then, the government has taken up the responsibility of water supply. From mid-20th century onwards, in order to cope with population and economic growth in post-war demand for water, the government had constructed reservoirs and planned increasingly large water catchment projects. However, water supply development could not keep pace with water demand. Restricted water supply (commonly known as water rationing) thus became an early post-war routine. The government invested heavily in completing in 20 years four huge and innovative water supply projects, namely the Tai Lam Chung Reservoir (1957), Shek Pik Reservoir (1963), Plover Cove Reservoir (1968) and High Island Reservoir (1978). In the meantime, one-third of the territory was zoned as the catchment area. In 1960, with the assistance of different parties, Hong Kong started to import fresh water from Guangdong Province. The threat of water shortages was gradually removed by increasing importation of Dongjiang water through the Dongjiang-Shenzhen Water Supply Scheme from March 1965 onwards. Meanwhile, the government actively developed an extensive seawater toilet flushing system to save fresh water.

Today, Hong Kong's water supply system is reliable and comprehensive. However to ensure the sustainable use of water resources, the government has launched a Total Water Management strategy which focuses on containing the growth of water demand through water conservation.