2013

• From March 2013

  Save Water-Cherish the World Roving Exhibitions

  Since 2013 the Department has been active in arranging a regular series of Save Water-Cherish the World roving exhibitions at shopping malls and housing estates throughout Hong Kong. The aim is to deepen the public’s awareness and knowledge of water conservation. As of March 2014, we successfully staged over 70 roving exhibition events.

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• April

  All About H2O Lecture Series and Special Exhibitions

  This event was held to raise public awareness of water conservation through the exploration of various scientific topics related to water but presented through a layman’s point of view.

  Experts in a wide range of fields were invited to speak on topics related to modern science and the technological advances in water resource management. Another series of exhibitions was held as well to introduce topics concerning: global and local water resource distribution, desalination, water treatment technology, biological techniques in water quality monitoring, virtual water and reclaimed water.

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• May

  Singapore Visitors tour the WSD’s Water Resources Education Centre

  The Department welcomed 22 visitors with different background from the Public Utilities Board of Singapore on a tour of the Water Resources Education Centre in Mongkok on May 21, 2013, led by Mr. Chris Chow, senior assistant director of Catchment & Waterway Works.

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• Let’s Save Water Cap Design Competition Award Ceremony

  Under the banner of “Saving drops for tomorrow”, this WSD-sponsored competition invited local students to design a cap to convey the message of water conservation. More than 10 000 entries were received from students ranging from primary one to secondary three. In addition to awards for the champion, first runners up, second runners up along with merits and commendations, the Department also recognised those schools that were particularly active in recruiting students to take part in the competition.

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• June

  Let’s Save Water Cap Design Competition Winning Entries Exhibition

  Over a four-month period the WSD sponsored a roving exhibition of the winning entries in the Let’s Save Water Cap Design Competition to display and honour the creative designs of the awardees whose promotion of the message – “Save Drops for Tomorrow” encourages water conservation.

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• July

  Water Conservation Starts from Home Campaign for Primary Schools – Certificate Presentation Ceremony for Water Conservation Ambassadors

  A record high 3 600 students from 31 primary schools took part in this scheme and ultimately 616 were appointed as Ambassadors. This is a testament to the growing awareness that students today have about the need to save water on a daily basis.

  Dr. Chan Hon-fai, chairperson of the Advisory Committee on Water Resources and Quality of Water Supplies (ACRQWS) helped confer certificates to the Ambassadors and expressed his appreciation to schools for their help in promoting water conservation. Each Ambassador pledged to uphold and protect our precious water resources.

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• August

  The Quality Water Recognition Scheme for Buildings (QWRSB) Certificate Presentation Ceremony

  Certificates for WSD’s Quality Water Recognition Scheme for Buildings were presented during an annual presentation ceremony. This award goes to those commercial property owners, corporation owners, and property management companies that have made special efforts to maintain fresh water plumbing systems in their buildings. Now in its 11th year, the Scheme’s total number of awarded Gold, Silver and Blue certificates has been on a continual rise. At present, there are over 3,682 valid certificates, an increase of more 200 over last year. Moreover, nearly 100 have been awarded to industrial/ commercial buildings, representing the most significant increase among all types of buildings. We are confident that this is a reflection of the public’s concern for maintaining the plumbing systems at the workplace and in business environments.

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• September

  Water Supplies Seminar 2013

  As part of the WSD’s commitment to supplying quality drinking water, we hold an annual Water Supplies Seminar for the public in order to allow a free exchange of ideas and opinions about water quality and supply services.

  In 2013 the Seminar’s focused on three topics: ‘Bio-sensing Alert Systems’, “Water Suspension Notice Systems” and “Consumer’s Responsibilities on Maintenance of Their Inside Service and Combating Unauthorised Taking of Water.” After the presentations, the WSD held an informative Q&A session to get feedback and advice from the attendees.

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• School Water Audit

  One of the main activities the Department conducts throughout Hong Kong to promote greater water conservation awareness among the Territory’s youth is our School Water Audit programme conducted in primary schools. With the help and guidance of their teachers, primary school students are given the task of working in groups to collect and analyse water consumption data then report any cases of water leakage or other abnormalities related to water use in their schools. Afterwards the students are asked to suggest practical conservation measures to help save more water. This scheme is effective in helping schools around the Territory implement best water conservation practices and introduces students to new methods of water conservation so that they can also then convey these messages to their peers and family members.

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• Water Conservation Starts at Home Campaign

  The Department has long placed a great deal of emphasis on educating younger generations about water conservation. For this reason, in 2009 we launched the Water Conservation Starts from Home campaign through roadshows and exhibitions at primary schools to reinforce the importance of water conservation and help motivate students to develop good water saving habits, starting from childhood. To complement this campaign we have also published and distributed to all primary schools in Hong Kong an information kit that explains water conservation in more flexible ways in order to suit students’ activity schedules, academic level and overall needs in each grade.

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• October

  10^th Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Seminar on Water Supply

  An event co-organised by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management Hong Kong Branch and the Department drew more 250 participants from China and Hong Kong. Since 1996, this biennial gathering brings together water organisations from the four major cities of the Pearl River Delta with each city hosting by turns.

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• Eco Expo Asia – Promoting environmental conservation through innovation and creativity

  The Department took part in EcoExpo Asia 2013 to present to both businesses and the general public a “Wave-powered In-take Screen Cleaning Device”, which was developed by our own staff for use at saltwater pumping stations to save manpower and energy. The 4-day Expo welcomed more than a thousand visitors, including Secretary for the Environment Mr. Wong Kam Sing who made a special visit to the Department’s booth.

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• November

  Ngau Tam Mei Water Treatment Works Open Day

  To help provide clear and proper information about water quality as well as introduce advanced technologies and treatment facilities in the water treatment process, the Department invited the public to visit the Ngau Tam Mei Water Treatment Works. More than 800 people from a wide range of backgrounds joined the facilities tour of the entire operations. As part of the open day activities, we arranged exhibitions of the Biosensing Alert System, the Save Water-Cherish our World campaign, replacement and rehabilitation of water mains, the Flushing Water Plumbing Quality Maintenance Recognition Scheme, combating unlawful taking of water, plus the prohibition against swimming or diving in reservoirs, and the Quality Water Recognition Scheme for Buildings.

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• World Water Monitoring Challenge 2013

  The World Water Monitoring Challenge 2013 (Hong Kong) organised by the International Water Association Regional Committee of Hong Kong, China and the Department, took place at the Ngau Tam Mei Water Treatment works. More than 100 secondary students participated in the event. They were given a tour of the facilities by our staff as well as WSD chemists who explained the testing methods, safety precautions, basic instructions, collection of water samples and methods for reporting results, etc. This event has been held since 2004 in response the International Water Association’s call for support. We invite secondary students to perform water tests at the Department’s waterworks facilities. They use simple test kits to carry out the measurement of four key indicators: temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity. The test results are then uploaded to the World Water Monitor Challenge database.

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• InnoCarnival 2013 – Promoting the Tuen Mun hydropower plant to the public

  To help promote our first-of-its-kind new hydropower plant at the Tuen Mun Water Treatment Works, the Department set up a special exhibition at the Hong Kong Science Park from 2nd to 10th November 2013. Thousands of interested visitors were fascinated by this innovative project in support to the Department’s wise use of renewable energy to save electricity cost and protect the environment.

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• ACRQWS’s visit to Guangdong

  Members of the ACRQWS visited Guangdong to inspect the Dongjiang water supply system. While there the members noted that the Guangdong authorities have continued to focus their efforts on protecting the Dongjiang water supply in order to keep it in full compliance with all required standards before conveying it to Hong Kong.

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• Decemeber

  Ma On Shan Water Treatment Works Open Day

  The Ma On Shan Water Treatment Works opened its doors to the public with a series of exhibitions in November 2013. There were booths that explained radiological monitoring systems for water supplies in Hong Kong, water loss management and a “Cherish Water Resources” Water Installations Drawing Competition to provide the public with a better understanding of how water treatment operations work in Hong Kong.

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2014

• January

  The 68^th Customer Liaison Group (CLG) Meeting

  The 68^th meeting of the CLG was held at the Ngau Tam Water Treatment Works in January this year. After providing a guided tour of the facilities to the members, the Department gave a presentation on Total Water Management, which focused on key topics like public education about water conservation.

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• March

  “Let’s Save 10L Water” Campaign

  The Let’s Save 10L Water campaign was launched by the Department in the presence of the Secretary for Development Mr Paul Chan, in support of World Water Day on 22 March 2014, to encourage domestic consumers to use 10L less water each day. To participate, the Hong Kong public were invited to log onto www.wsd. gov.hk/save10litres and sign a Commitment Certificate pledging to reduce their daily water consumption by 10 litres. Each household taking part was entitled to a free pair of flow controllers to help reduce the amount of water they use from water taps. To meet the very enthusiastic responses, we have increased our stock of flow controllers to give out from 30 000 to 120 000 households on a first-come, firstserved basis.

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• Siu Ho Wan Water Treatment Works Open Day

  A technical tour of the Siu Ho Wan Water Treatment Works was arranged during March 2014. Visitors were also presented with a series of exhibitions on the Wavepowered Cleaning System, meter workshop, the latest news about the WSD Mobile App as well as the Water Conservation Ambassador Selection Scheme. The purpose of the open day activities is aimed at educating the public about the latest technologies the WSD is adopting and to brief visitors on the latest promotion campaigns the department is launching.

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• Launch of the WSD Mobile App

  In an effort to enhance the quality of services the Department provides the public, we have launched a free mobile application called the WSD Mobile App which gives updated information, including a notice board, water suspension notices, a water bill summary and a bill reminder to the public via mobile phone.

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