HONG KONG: Hong Kong is mulling over replacing the water pipes of thousands of public housing estate flats across the city after excessive amounts of lead were found in some water samples taken from the Kai Ching estate in Kowloon City.
Substandard pipes and taps have been blamed, as the government continues its investigations.
A mother-of-three living in the affected public housing estate in Kowloon City is confused and fearful that her family's health would be affected. Two to three times a day, Mrs Yu has to run downstairs to get drinking water after the water supply in her estate was found to have excessive levels of lead.
One water sample taken was found to contain 35.1 micrograms of lead per litre of water, which is three-and-a-half times the safe level recommended by the World Health Organization.
"The most important thing now is to keep the baby safe. With the water problem now, we can't let the baby drink it. Since my pregnancy ... I was drinking the tap water. I won't let him drink it now," said Mrs Yu.
Mrs Yu had her baby around the time she moved into the then newly-built estate, and is worried about the long-term effects on her children.
She said the situation was "very badly handled. It's been two years and it's only now you're telling us that there's a problem with the water. We don't know what to do. We have very little faith in the tap water and are worried it's not safe."
Residents are now given free bottled water, with priority to children, pregnant women and the elderly, who are told not to drink from the taps. Meanwhile, authorities have built seven new water outlets, pumping out fresh water on demand for the residents.
The Department of Health also stressed that levels of lead found represent no significant health risk unless it is consumed over a lifetime.
The government meanwhile is following up on two avenues of possible lead contamination. One is the faucets supplied by local company Tin Fat Plastic International, while the other is a licensed government plumber Lam Tak-sum, who has also done work in four other housing estates - in the districts of Tuen Mun, Sha Tin, Cheung Sha Wan and Kwai Shing.
The issue could potentially affect tens of thousands of residents.
Hong Kong Director of Housing Stanley Ying said: "We do have a system of quality control, involving different levels of checks, etc. All these checks will ultimately have to rely on the contractor, who has to deliver those things according to specifications.
"We cannot do our checks to the extent that every time the worker is doing some soldering, a Housing Department staff is assigned beside him to oversee that. It's not possible."
Public housing residents and politicians are also putting pressure on the government to conduct checks on tap water across all estates in the territory.
- CNA/al
