Updated information on how the Department is preparing for compliance with the Year 2000 has been available to the public since October 1998.
In the continuing effort to reach out to the people, the home page plays an important part in the dissemination of WSD publicity and the information on the status of Y2K compliance, which deals with the progress of rectification work and the development of contingency plans.
The wealth of WSD information posted on the internet includes such regular publications as 'Waterlink' newsletters and 'Hong Kong Water', as well as the Performance Pledge. Special events, such as open days are also made known on the home page. Consideration is being given to enabling the public to download WSD publications from the home page.
Some 10,000 visitors of all ages were shown round the facilities at Sha Tin, Pak Kong and Au Tau Treatment Works during the year, more than twice the number of the year before. The increased number of visitors clearly reflects our efforts in reaching out to the people and in further promoting interest in all matters relating to the water supply.
Apart from direct contact with customers, frank and open relations with the media are a well-tried and important means of reaching out to the public as a whole.
Good relations with the media are maintained through the Customer Relations Unit in consultation with the Secretariat Press Office of the Works Bureau.
Water quality and concerns about the pollution of raw water from Guangdong are among matters widely discussed and departmental staff often appear on television and the radio to answer questions about water supply issues.
New publications are regularly produced on a variety of matters. This year, a pamphlet about the species of fish found in Hong Kong reservoirs was published under the title "Fun of Fishing in Hong Kong Reservoirs", and a 'Consumer Guide Book' was also printed, giving general information about the water supply services.
Other promotional leaflets are also regularly produced, including one on the Performance Pledge.
Some 16 groups of people from Mainland China, Japan, the United States, and Russia visited the Department during the year.
In response to public interest, fishing is permitted in the 17 reservoirs during the off-breeding season.
Permits - which are now good for three years - are issued under certain conditions, stipulating the method of fishing, as well as the type and size of the fish caught, thereby striking a balance between conservation of the ecology and the public interest in the sport.
Some 12,000 fishing permits were issued in 1998/99.
Water gathering grounds, essential for the collection of rainfall for the reservoirs, make up nearly one third of the Hong Kong land area. They are well protected by the WSD, with the help of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department and the Lands Department.
Most of them are well-conserved natural scenic areas and designated as country parks, which regularly attract many visitors and provide a variety of recreational opportunities for the public.
So as to present the public with a better understanding about the water they drink, and use in their daily lives, a roving exhibition, 'Truth about Water' has been put together and will be sent to various locations in Hong Kong as from May 1999.
As one of the WSD's new initiatives in publicity and education, it is designed to give a simple and concise picture of different aspects of water processing, of quality and potability - all dealing with a matter of vital personal interest which is less understood than it should be.
The exhibition will spend one week in each of 15 public housing estates, in urban areas as well as in all the New Towns, including Tung Chung on Lantau Island.