Tymon Mellor: The Shek Pik reservoir is part of a larger scheme to supply Hong Kong Island with a water supply through submarine pipeline from Lantau Island. The reservoir has a capacity of 24.5 million m3 with a direct catchment of 7.8 km2but with the completed catch waters the catchment area is expanded to 53 km2 or 40% of the […]
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Tymon Mellor: With continued water shortages on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, pressure was on the Shek Pik construction team to complete the reservoir as fast as possible. The situation was so bad that during a particularly bad drought in the summer of 1963, the Government hired 13 tankers to ferry water from the Pearl River to a new terminal […]
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Tymon Mellor: With the growing population in both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon there was a growing demand for drinking water, the existing supplies, primarily the Tai Tam reservoirs and Kowloon Reservoir were insufficient to meet such needs. With the failure of the spring rains, water famine became a common occurrence, and a quick fix was required. Water Shortages Following […]
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James Chan: Ten years ago any shop in Hong Kong would have had a landline which you could use, and for free… then quite quickly the number decreased. As one of the few people in Hong Kong without a mobile phone I came to rely on any MTR station to be able to phone on the odd occasion when something was […]
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Tymon Mellor: In the summer of 1963, with severe water restrictions of only four hours every fourth day in urban Hong Kong, the Colonial Government was searching for new water supplies that could be expeditiously developed. A number of schemes had been explored and these were presented to the Executive Council in October, 1963. In addition to the Plover Cover […]
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James Chan, Rico Lee and Elizabeth Ride: High Island Reservoir is the largest in Hong Kong by volume, [273 (3) /281 (1) (4) million cubic metres]. Plover Cove Reservoir has a larger area. Government Department: Water Supplies Consultants: The reservoir was designed by Binnie & Partners as a part of the High Island Water Scheme which included pipeworks and other supporting infrastructure […]
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Hugh Farmer: Following our recent articles about the Lok On Pai ‘desalting’ plant I visited the site on 4th December 2014 to see what remains. We know from recent aerial photographs and maps that the main building exists extending west to east, with one main arm at right angles to this running south towards the sea. Here’s what the site […]
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Preece, Cardew and Rider were the consulting engineers for a proposed extension of Hok Un power station, Hung Hom in the 1930s. “In 1934 a committee consisting of directors and senior staff was formed to deal with the extensions proposed. It met regularly for the next several years and made many important decisions based quite often on the advice of […]
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HF: On 9th March 2015 the SCMP published an article, A Reservoir of Memories. This included a brief description of Plover Cove Reservoir plus a number of photographs including two of HK Governor David Tench officially opening the reservoir on 20th January 1969. This article was first published on 10th March 2015. See: Task Force on Land Supply says no to reclaiming part […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) report from 1st March 1945, An Outline of Conditions in Occupied Hong Kong which was compiled in early 1945 for use by the Civil Affairs Committee which was to take on the rehabilitation of HK after the planned allied invasion. HF: The report is lengthy so I am going to divide it […]
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