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A Hong Kong public think tanker urged the government to improve water recycling capacity, and adjust its water charges structure to deter water wastage.
Hong Kong public think tank Civic Exchange released a report on Tuesday, stating that albeit the total amount of water usage of the city decreased by about three percent over the past decade, its per capital sea water consumption increased by 30 percent over the past 10 years, which is higher than many countries in the world, said Liu Su, head of Greater China and water policy research.
"66 percent of total water usage goes to shower and toilet flushing," Liu said.
She said the root cause is that the territory's water pricing structure has been stagnant since 1995, making water "so cheap" to raise people's awareness of overuse. "Hong Kong households' water bills are among the lowest in the world," Liu said.
But she stressed that even sea water is by no means free.
"From extraction, transportation to treatment, every step requires large investment," Liu said.
In her previous publicized article, Liu suggested that the Water Supplies Department of the Hong Kong government once stated that the cost of seawater supply was roughly 30 per cent that of fresh water supplies. Currently the fresh water from Dongjiang in Guangdong costs Hong Kong HK$8 per cubic metre, so roughly the 270 million cubic metres of seawater used last year cost about HK$648 million. For waste water treatment, the Drainage Services Department is estimated to have spent HK$622 million last year to treat seawater after it went down to the drains. In total, HK$1.27 billion was spent last year.
She said the government should stick with the principles of "users pay" and "polluters pay", i.e the more they consume, the more they pay.
"The citizens need at least a water meter installed at home to let them know how much water they use," Liu said.
She also blasted the city's government for standing aloof of the need to enhance wasted water reusability.
"Hong Kong does treat the wasted water, but it simply emits it. Singapore is doing better in this aspect," said Liu. "Beijing is also recycling 50 percent of its wasted water, but Hong Kong is doing nothing on it."
Liu added that although the city is still enjoying affluent fresh water supplies from the Dongjiang river, Pearl River Delta's rapid development may affect the optimal allocation of water resources, as well as Hong Kong's sustainable water flexibility in the foreseeable future. It is important to raise the awareness of water resources management, both to the domestic users and the administrative branch of the government.
