Opinion | Hong Kong’s Covid-19 struggle is adding to its water footprint, leaving little safeguard against climate threats
- Thanks to climate change, Hong Kong on is track to become hotter and dryer in the future, putting our reservoir supplies at risk
- Yet instead of doing more to save water, consumption has hit new highs since the start of the pandemic
The approach of World Water Day on March 22 serves as a reminder that, worldwide, some 771 million people lack access to safe water. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic and countless other challenges facing humanity, we cannot forget the importance of water conservation as a means to make us more resilient to climate threats.
Data from the Water Supplies Department shows an increase of 12.8 per cent in water consumption since 2012.
The city consumed 996 million cubic metres of water in 2019, the year before the outbreak of the pandemic. This figure increased to 1,027 million cubic metres in 2020 and 1,055 million cubic metres in 2021. Both levels are the highest on record, largely because of an increase in water use for washing and cleaning.
This worrying scenario is exacerbated by the sharp drop in the amount of water collected in our reservoirs. In 2016, 385 million cubic metres of water was collected by reservoirs. But, last year, that figure was only 202 million cubic metres, representing a 47.5 per cent drop over the past five years.
The total rainfall in 2021 was 2,307.1mm, which is 4.6 per cent lower than the 10-year average of 2,414.5mm. With the combined challenge of hotter temperatures and reduced precipitation threatening Hong Kong, we must use every opportunity to lower our water consumption. One important step is to speed up the repair of leaking public and private pipes to minimise water wastage.
