Director's Statement

Kelvin LO Kwok-wah, Director of Drainage Services

(Photo taken at a works site of Relocation of Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works to Caverns, jumbo drilling machine as background)

Since its establishment in 1989, the Drainage Services Department (DSD) has been devoting its efforts to building a highly effective drainage system of world-class quality for Hong Kong. We actively promote sustainable development and adaptive management to strengthen Hong Kong's resilience to climate change. By providing professional sewage treatment and stormwater drainage services, the DSD strives to create a clean and healthy living environment for the public.

With Hong Kong's population continuing to increase, the local demand for sewage treatment facilities keeps rising. The volume of sewage treated by the DSD's sewage treatment facilities has increased from 385 million cubic metres in 1989 to 1.034 billion cubic metres in the current year; in the same period, the total length of our sewerage network has almost doubled from about 955 kilometres to about 1,900 kilometres. Today, our sewage treatment services cover more than 93% of the local population.

Being one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Hong Kong faces formidable challenges in stormwater collection and flood prevention. At present, the DSD manages nearly 2,800 kilometres of stormwater drains and river channels, an increase of about 1,230 kilometres in length since the establishment of the DSD. Moving with the times, we strive to innovate on various fronts such as technologies, working practices and design thinking to meet expectations of the community.

Application of Innovative Technologies

We have been working in the direction of the Government's development roadmap for “Smart City” and “Construction 2.0”. Striving for continuous improvement in the efficiency of drainage facilities, the DSD has applied state-of-the-art technologies in project design, construction as well as daily operation and maintenance. We stand ready to explore new possibilities actively. Apart from widely adopting Building Information Modelling (BIM), Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) to enhance the speed, accuracy and quality of construction works, the DSD is also introducing other types of technology such as mobile apps and virtual reality for intelligent site management. As for operations and maintenance, the DSD has introduced a new remote-controlled desilting robot to facilitate maintenance of confined and submerged drains, minimising the need for workers to enter high-risk workplace, thereby enhancing safety. To improve energy efficiency of drainage facilities, we have been actively exploring the application of various renewable energy technologies, such as installation of photovoltaic systems, hydro-turbine systems and adoption of food waste and sludge anaerobic co-digestion technology to generate biogas more effectively for the purpose of supplying some electricity and heat energy to sewage treatment works.

New Working Practice

When executing construction projects, we attach importance to communication, mutual assistance and mutual trust with all our partners, especially project contractors, consultants and other professionals in the industry. The New Engineering Contract (NEC) is a novel working practice emphasising teamwork that enables us to make concerted efforts to enhance construction effectiveness and avoid the risks of unnecessary cost or time overruns, thereby ensuring successful project completion. Since 2009, we have awarded a total of 90 NECs with notable achievements.

To ensure effective operation of all drainage channels, manpower is mobilised to inspect about 200 drain locations prone to blockage by litter, fallen leaves or the like before the onset of a rainstorm. All blocked intakes are cleared to realise "just-in-time clearance". This proactive effort is made to minimise flooding risks during rainstorms.

Encouraging Design Thinking

Drainage facilities play an integral part of urban infrastructure, and they become closely linked with the community today. Always committed to innovation, the DSD has been realising the concept of “Blue-Green Drainage Infrastructure” to build a liveable city. While carrying out successive improvement works to Ho Chung River, Lam Tsuen River and Kai Tak River to alleviate flooding risks, we revitalised water bodies and enhanced natural ecosystems. Currently, we are taking steps to implement river revitalisation works at Tsui Ping River, Jordan Valley Nullah, Fo Tan Nullah and Tai Wai Nullah to further promote the culture of water-friendliness and improve the local environment.

Drainage services and people's daily life are closely connected, we encourage our colleagues to think out of the box and engage the public to optimise our services. Embracing a spirit of “coexisting and sharing”, we adopt a “design thinking” approach to construction of drainage facilities. For example, in the community-based co-creation project – “Community Design for Sustainable Development @ Shek Wu Hui Effluent Polishing Plant Public Space”, we canvassed public views through a series of self-experiencing and multi-platform public engagement activities, and co-developed with the public a co-use plan for Shek Wu Hui Effluent Polishing Plant, thereby achieving a win-win situation.

We are carrying out the enhancement works for Kwun Tong Sewage Pumping Station, on the roof of which a landscaped deck with an area of 11,000 square metres will be built. We are inviting a non-government organisation to organise workshops to allow the public to give their views on its layout, including a green corridor, a viewing deck, picnic sites and a family playground.

Doing our Best

Despite the unprecedented challenges Hong Kong faced in the past year, our colleagues remained dedicated to maintaining quality services and delivering volunteer service totalling over 1,300 hours during this trying time. Thanks to their collaborative efforts, the DSD made tremendous progress in many areas during the year. My sincere appreciation goes to every one of our colleagues.

Looking back on its great achievements made in the past three decades, the DSD owes its success to the dedication and hard work of many colleagues who “do it from the heart” to serve the public. Indeed, I say with great pride that the performance of our colleagues are widely recognised by the public and other government departments. I salute all current and former colleagues of the DSD. In the future, we will continue to keep our mission firmly in mind and do our best to serve Hong Kong.

Kelvin LO Kwok-wah

Director of Drainage Services

November 2020