Lawmakers endorse plan for HK$7.7 billion desalination plant in Hong Kong that will meet 5 per cent of city’s drinking water needs
- But officials dismiss call for expansion of facility to cut reliance on water from across border
- Project will now be passed on to Legco’s Finance Committee to discuss funding
Hong Kong lawmakers have unanimously endorsed a HK$7.7 billion (US$987 million) plan for the government to build a desalination plant that will meet 5 per cent of the city’s demand for drinking water.
At a meeting of the Legislative Council’s public works subcommittee on Tuesday, members also urged the government to plan for the future expansion of the plant so as to lower the city’s reliance on a river in mainland China’s Guangdong province because of strategic and pollution concerns.
But officials dismissed the idea, saying both sources would be needed to offset risks from climate change on the city’s water supply, such as severe droughts.
The project will now be passed on to Legco’s Finance Committee to discuss funding, the final hurdle.
The desalination plant, on an eight-hectare site in Tseung Kwan O, is expected to produce 135,000 cubic metres (4.8 million cubic feet) of drinking water a day after it is completed in 2022, equivalent to 5 per cent of local consumption.
