Corporate Profile

The Hong Kong SAR Government’s Water Supplies Department oversees and manages all aspects of sourcing and maintaining supplies of fresh and salt water throughout the Territory. Every day we pump 2.56 million cubic metres of fresh water to meet the needs of 7.19 million people. We get our fresh water supplies primarily from Hong Kong’s expansive hillside catchments along with considerable reserves piped in from Dongjiang in southern China, which undergoes strict water testing and treatment to meet global safety standards. Afterwards fresh water is stored in a broad array of service reservoirs for distribution to homes and commercial developments. The Department also utilises seawater which is treated and then piped to toilet flushing systems. Seawater flushing is generally found in a majority of residential, commercial and industrial buildings throughout Hong Kong; the utilisation of this type of water resource helps lower our overall need for fresh water. The Department is also responsible for initiating and monitoring the development of new water sources based on methods like desalination, water recycling and rainwater harvesting.

We dedicate ourselves every day to meeting the expectations of our customers while at the same time implementing strong and effective policies to promote water conservation. Water is an essential element that underpins the vitality and prosperity of Hong Kong. For this reason, we will continue to closely work in collaboration with all stakeholders to optimise supplies so that Hong Kong’s water remains secure and of high quality now and in the future.

Principal Statistics (as at 31.3.2014)
* Water mains laid in private streets are included
No. of Impounding Reservoirs 17 nos.
Total Storage Capacity 586.05 million cubic metres (mcm)
No. of Water Treatment Works (including both fresh & raw water pumping stations and pump houses) 153 nos.
Total Daily Pumping Capacity 31.23 million cubic metres (mcm)
No. of Salt Water Pumping Stations (including both pumping stations and pump houses) 33 nos.
Total Daily Pumping Capacity 1.89 million cubic metres (mcm)
No. of Combined Fresh Water & Salt Water Pumping Stations 7 nos.
Total Daily Pumping Capacity 0.29 million cubic metres (mcm)
No. of Fresh Water Service Reservoirs 170 nos.
Total Storage Capacity 4.18 million cubic metres (mcm)
No. of Salt Water Service Reservoirs (20 mm to 2 400 mm diameter) 6 703* kilometres (km)
Length of Salt Water Mains (20 mm to 1 200 mm diameter) 1 698* kilometres (km)