Financial provision for the overall task of providing for the water supply needs of Hong Kong for the year rose on average by about 9.7 per cent from $4,492 million to $4,929 million.
This was spent on three main programmes - the supply of water, quality control and customer services.
Operating under the Waterworks Ordinance, and headed by a Director, the Water Supplies Department has the responsibility for planning, designing, constructing, maintaining and operating the water supply system.
The Director, serving also as the Water Authority, controls and coordinates all activities concerned with providing potable and flushing supplies. The Deputy Director is responsible for the day-to-day business of the Department.
Supporting them are five Assistant Directors, the Business Manager and the Departmental Secretary who are responsible for the four Engineering Branches, the Financial Management Branch and the Departmental Administration Division respectively.
Three functional units, which are directly under the Deputy Director, deal with the property management of waterworks installations and customer relations issues, and provide advice on contractual matters.
The Department seeks to ensure that there is a full supply of potable water, as well as sea water for flushing purposes, throughout the territory on a 24-hour basis.
This entails planning water supply requirements on a full-day supply basis, developing water resources and supply systems, and designing and constructing reliable and efficient distribution systems to meet public requirements in good time.
The financial provision for this programme of work in 1998/99 amounted to $4,395 million.
Another important task of the Department is in the application of international standards, such as those of the World Health Organisation, in the examination of potable water. The Department's own standards and guidelines are applied in testing sea water supplies for flushing.
Strictly enforced quality control methods are used in testing potable water for the bacteriological and chemical content according to the WHO guidelines.
The tests are carried out on samples taken from the various supply sources, including treatment works, service reservoirs, distribution networks and customers' taps.
In monitoring sea water quality, both chemical and bacteriological examinations are carried out.
This work cost $153 million.
Apart from providing the full range of water services directly to the customer, the Department is also responsible for enforcement of the Waterworks Ordinance and Regulations.
Constant effort is made to improve efficiency and effectiveness in dealing with enquiries and complaints, processing applications for water supply, ensuring timely billing, updating customer accounts and monitoring arrears of water charges.
The financial provision for these services came to $381 million.
The Department operates with an establishment of 6,070 employees - comprising 375 professional officers, 2,275 inspectorate and technical officers, 2,359 general grades staff, and the rest being skilled, semi-skilled and junior workers. The average staff strength during the year was 5,861.
| Financial Year | 1996/97 ($m) |
1997/98 ($m) |
1998/99 ($m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water Supply (Planning & Distribution) |
3,660.9 | 3,984.4 | 4,395.1 |
| Water Quality Control | 122.0 | 142.1 | 152.6 |
| Customer Services | 357.0 | 365.6 | 381.3 |
| 4,139.9 (+11.7%) |
4,492.1 (+8.5%) |
4,929.0 (+9.7%) |
