ELIZABETH CHEUNG ELIZABETH.CHEUNG@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Friday, 24 July, 2015, 4:53pm
UPDATED : Friday, 24 July, 2015, 5:31pm
Residents collect fresh water at the Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City, where water filters will be installed in resident's homes. Photo: Sam Tsang
All Hong Kong public housing estates will be tested for tainted water in the wake of a lead contamination scare, the government announced today.
Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said the government would first conduct water tests at estates built between 2005 and 2010, which involves 27 developments and some 100 buildings containing 84,000 households.
“We expect to spend two months to complete testing for housing estates built between 2005 and 2010. After we have completed that, we will conduct water tests for all the remaining public estates,” Cheung said.
“Conducting water tests for all estates does not mean there is problem with the water, but will reassure residents not to get anxious.”
Meanwhile, water filters to remove lead will be installed in some 8,000 households at three estates where excessive levels of lead were previously found in water samples.
Residents of Kowloon City’s Kai Ching Estate, Kwai Luen Estate in Kwai Ching and Wing Cheong Estate in Sham Shui Po will receive the filters, which the government said meet US standards.
Contractors who built the three estates are responsible for purchasing and installing the water filters. As the supply of filters is limited in the city, contractors have to order directly from overseas suppliers. It is therefore unknown when the filters can be installed at the affected estates.
Contractors will also be responsible for the care and maintenance of the filters for two years after they are installed.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1843417/all-hong-kong-public-housing-estates-be-tested
