Author: I(C)6
Company: EPD

L6Sc Jessie Leung Ling (19)
Diocesan Girls' School
Environmental Project Reports Competition

Safeguarding our Heritage: A Clean Victoria Harbour

Introduction
	Victoria Harbour is dying. Even though it looks spectacular in many photos and postcards, it is in fact suffering from the sewage discharged and litters thrown by ignorant citizens. The water quality of Victoria Harbour has been deteriorating over the years and the current condition shows an urgent need for improvement. Why does the pollution becomes so serious? How can we rescue Victoria Harbour from being a dumping ground? 
	
Present situation and reasons for the deteriorating water quality
1. Untreated sewage
	Everyday, about 1.2 millions of sewage is discharged into Victoria Harbour---only seventy per cent of the sewage is treated. The remaining thirty per cent of uncheated sewage may sound very scary, yet it is already a great progress because in the years before 2001, sewage was dumped without any treatment and relied on the fast moving current for dilution. In 1995, urban waste water was screened by the 22 treatment plants, while serious pollution was resulted as about 15 millions m3 per day of untreated sewage was discharged into Victoria Harbour. In the New Territories, sewage was treated by biological treatment plants. However, most of the treated sewage had only received 'preliminary' treatment which just filtered off the solids.

	It is in late 2001 that the Stonecutter treatment plant began to remove most of the contaminants from the sewage. The level of treatment was far from completion. According to the statistics in the pollution of typhoon shelter in Victoria Harbour(2002), Kwun Tong area was the most severely polluted, as shown by the low percentage of dissolved oxygen(around 20% satuation) and highest population of Escherichia Coli. While the eastern part of the harbour showed improved water quality, the areas near Stonecutter Island were still polluted. Therefore, a fast and effective remedy to improve the water quality is required or else the consequences will be disastrous.

2. People's ignorance and selfishness
	Hong Kong people are often blind to the fact that Victoria Harbour contributes to the prosperity of our city and do all sort of pollution to the harbour. Whenever we walk near Victoria Harbour, an awful smell immediately fills our nose and keeps us from reaching our head out to take a closer look at the sea. Curious tourists who can bear the smell will definitely be disgusted by the oily, dirty sea with rubbish and dead fishes floating around! I believe millions of tourists, who were attracted by the beautiful scenery of Victoria Harbour to visit Hong Kong, should had experienced deep disappointment after they had seen the 'real' Victoria Harbour. When they returned to their hometown, they might had told their relatives and friends about this horrible truth and discouraged others from coming to Hong Kong. Thus, if Hong Kong people continue to neglect the problem, the tourism in Hong Kong will decline and it will lead to a poor economy. In the end, it is Hong Kong people who will suffer!

3. Harbour Reclamation
	Besides, contiuous harbour reclamation also threatens the water quality. In 1999, 29220 tonnes of construction waste used for reclamation was discarded each day, although they are not discarded directly into the harbour, the water quality was inevitably worsened. Moreover, the damage done by harbour reclamation can never be repaired since it is irreversible. By the year 1999, the total reclamation completed was 2700 hectares, which was equivalent to 3 times the area of Kowloon Peninsula. If the reclamation process goes on, Victoria Harbour may become a river one day and the beautiful scenery will be gone forever! As the harbour becomes narrower, hot air will be trapped between the high buildings and the air pollution will become more serious. People can no longer enjoy the cool sea breeze in summer at that time. Therefore, if people do not want their next generation to live in a suffocating city, the first thing they have to do is to cherish Victoria Harbour!

Advices for the government
	Taking the leading role of the city, the Hong Kong Government should make every effort to alarm people of the problem and encourge them to safeguard Victioria Harbour together. Firstly, it is essential to remove the wasteful habit of Hong Kong people as quickly as possible. Apart from educating citizens not to throw rubbish into the harbour, the government should also promote the importance to reduce the amount of rubbish. A shocking amount of 18000 tonnes of wastes are produced everyday in Hong Kong, in order to handle these wastes, an enormous sum of money is required. Thus, if Hong Kong people avoid buying unnecessary products, not only can they reduce waste and save their own money, they can also help to lower the government's expenditure on waste management. Furthermore, 'Reuse', 'Recycle' and 'Replace' should be strongly promoted so that everybody in Hong Kong understands these principles and take actions to reduce wastes.

	Secondly, the government should remind Hong Kong people the importance of keeping the harbour clean consistently, by means of advertisments and TV commercials. Although throwing rubbish on streets has been legislated last year, people take up their bad habit again after a few months and rubbish reappears on streets. For this reason, I believe there is a need for the government to remind the citizens now and then as their self-discipline seems to be not enough.

	Thirdly, reclamation of Victoria Harbour should be restricted otherwise the water quality will only becomes worser. Dredging for reclamation removes sand and mud, washing them into the sea, clouding the water and threatening the marine organisms. Hence, the ecosystem will be badly affected. In my opinion, skyscrapers are unfavourable to be built on reclamed land as they block the air current seriously. What's more, skyscrapers requires a extra firm support and reclamed land may not be able to provide that. Actually, the government may consider making full use of the land resources in the New Territories instead of reclaming Victoria Harbour all the time. It may be profitable to reclaim the harbour, nevertheless, the cost can be very dreadful. It is very important for the government to consider carefully before planning any harbour reclamations.

Efforts by the EPD in tackling the problem
	In fact, the government was aware of the problem decades ago and had draw up plans to tackle it. Witnessing the declining water quality, the Envirnmental Protectin Department(EPD) was established in 1986. 3 years later, the Strategic Sewage Disposal Scheme (SSDS) was first introduced. It was a plan to collect sewage from the urban areas of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island through a system of deep tunnels. The sewage was directly to the Stonecutter treatment plant and the effluent would be discharged to the Western Harbour. The SSDS was renamed Habour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS) later and the treatment plant began to operate in 2001. However, the scheme was not very successful and now the EPD is seeking for other solutions.

	At the time being, I think the major concern of the EPD will be a fast and conspicious improvement in the water quality of Victoria Habour. Increasing the number of treatment plant is vital because the treatment plant in Stonecutter Island failed to clear the water completely. Regarding the four options that are proposed, I go for the fourth option as the treatment plants are decentralized at Stonecutter, Sandy Bay and North Point. Sewage, especially in Kwun Tong, can be transported to the nearest plant and be treated quickly. Thus the plant at Stonecutter Island will not be overloaded because the treatment burden is divided among the three. In addition, I believe the introduction of 'biological aerated filter' (BAF) is favourable to the current situation as it is a technology widely used in other parts of the world. Once the trial is shown to be successful, the EPD can immediately use this method to upgrade the treatment of water.

Improvements
	On the other hand, the EPD may also reflect on its long struggling with the problem. Although plans were made as early as 1989, the building of treatment plant and tunnels were not finished until 2001. Over the years, the water quality has been decling at an alarming rate. Further promotion of the Habour Area Treatment Scheme is needed and more channels can be provided for the public to offer comments and suggestions.

Looking ahead
	Youngsters, as the future pillars of the society, should take the role of safeguarding Victoria Harbour. They can start by encourging others to live a life with the 4R---'Reduce', 'Recycle', 'Reuse' and 'Replace'. Meanwhile, Hong Kong people should have more self-discipline, stop polluting the harbour by littering and learn to cherish our harbour. The EPD may explore new techniques through discussions with experts from other countries and contiune to strieve for a cleaner Victoria Harbour. May Hong Kong people always bear this in mind: the fate of Victoria Harbour is in our hands, and we rely on it for Hong Kong's prosperity!

References
1. Year report of the Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong 2002, Hong Kong Government Publishcations
2. Environmental Guidebook edited by Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong and Environmental Campaign Committee, copyright by  Environmental Campaign Committee
3. Hong Kong wastewater---now and future by Dr S.L. Tang, Hong Kong
4. Hong Kong Environmental Protection Dpartment 'Cleaning Up Our Harbour', Hong Kong Government Publishcations