Author(s): Ricky Chi-Kai Lee; Stephanus W. L. Shou; Glenn T. H. Chan

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Keywords: Reclaimed water; Recycled water; Water reclamation and reuse; Total water management

Abstract: Under the Total Water Management Strategy put forth by the Water Supplies Department (WSD) of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China, expansion of use of lower grade water for non-potable uses is one of the major initiatives to contain fresh water demand growth. Despite Hong Kong has been extensively applying seawater for toilet flushing since the late 1950s, it is less cost-effective to provide inland areas with seawater supply and thus these areas are currently still supplied with fresh water for toilet flushing. The proposed Shek Wu Hui Water Reclamation Plant takes the opportunity arising from the upgrading of a nearby sewage treatment works to tertiary treatment to produce reclaimed water for non-potable uses including toilet flushing. Reclaimed water is generated by further processing the high-quality filtrate from the membrane bioreactor at the sewage treatment works, which enables a relatively simple disinfection process of hypochlorination. A food-grade biodegradable dye is added to reclaimed water before distribution to consumers for toilet flushing, while a portion of reclaimed water without dye addition is made available for other non-potable purposes, such as street cleansing and landscape irrigation. This pioneering reclaimed water supply system will serve a population of 530,000 people and save approximately 22 million cubic metres of non-potable fresh water consumption annually. The first-of-its-kind reclaimed water supply system in Hong Kong is discussed in this paper.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/978-90-833476-1-5_iahr40wc-p0801-cd

Year: 2023