Hong Kong’s water supply is indispensable to the people’s livelihood and supports the sustainable development of the society. To enhance the ability of the fresh water supply system to adapt to climate change, the Review has evaluated the possible impact on the system under the effect of climate change and recommended building resilience in the fresh water supply as a water supply management initiative.
Under the climate change effect on mean rainfall of the medium-low and medium-high greenhouse gas concentration scenarios, the current supply arrangement with local yield, Dongjiang water and seawater for flushing will be able to cope with the demand up to 2040 if the target of demand management measures, i.e. reducing the average fresh water pcc by 10%, is achieved.
In view of the possibility that the local yield may decrease substantially due to climate change, the Strategy 2019 recommends to build resilience in our fresh water supply. To cater for the lower bound of the envelope of projected effect on local annual rainfall due to climate change, we are building resilience in our fresh water supply through the first stage desalination plant in TKO.
Desalination is a strategic water resource which is not susceptible to impact of climate change. We will take forward the construction of the first stage of the TKO desalination plant which aims to commence operation in 2023 with a capacity of producing 50 mcm of fresh water per annum with provision for future expansion to the ultimate capacity of 100 mcm per annum. The desalination plant will adopt the latest technology of reverse osmosis, which has been confirmed with a previous pilot study to be effective in producing potable water complying with the Hong Kong Drinking Water Standards under local conditions. First stage of the desalination plant will meet around 5% of total fresh water consumption in Hong Kong.