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Home | About this Report | Director's Statement | Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Promoting Sustainable Development in Hong Kong | Highlights of the Year | Governance Approach | Our Core Responsibilities | Environmental Management | Caring for Our Staff | Stakeholder Engagement Activities
Global climate change embeds opportunities and challenges. In the face of changes in the environment, DSD has committed to exploring and introducing cutting-edge engineering technologies and environmental measures. On one hand, it enhances the operational efficiency; on the other hand, it promotes the concept of sustainable development (covering river revitalisation and energy conservation, etc.), and to realize the goal of co-existence between project works and environmental protection.
DSD has been striving to implement the concept of revitalising water bodies by incorporating green and ecoconservation elements into channel and river training works. These include planting in river channels and along riverbanks, engineering natural stream settings, preserving river ecosystems, enhancing various wildlife growth and introducing landscape designs, which promote greening, biodiversity and environmental beautification while maintaining the drainage capacity. For the purpose of blue-green infrastructure, we wish to create an environment with lush vegetation and beautiful waterscape for the public to get close to the water bodies and treasure the natural resources.
DSD completed Ho Chung River and Upper Lam Tsuen River Improvement Works in 2007 and 2012 respectively, thus considerably alleviating the flood risk in the regions. Ho Chung River in Sai Kung and Lam Tsuen River in Tai Po are of great ecological significance. During construction, we did our utmost to minimise environmental and ecological impacts of our works and keep the land uptake during the river widening works to a minimum in order to preserve the original characters of the rivers.
Drainage facilities built in the early years were mainly made of concrete and were designed for flood prevention. As time evolves, the public has more aspiration on water-friendly activities and gradually concerned with the importance of protecting water ecology and effective use of urban space. In response, we have been pushing forward a policy initiative in the 2015 Policy Address. In both large-scale drainage improvement works and the planning of drainage networks for New Development Areas, we have actively introduced innovative ideas for revitalising water bodies in nullahs and river channels.
Revitalising water bodies not only enhances the environment, but also enhances the river ecological value and biodiversity, as well as improves river greening. We will also strive to promote water-friendly activities so that the public can enjoy the river facilities and experience the value of multi-functionality of the water bodies so as to treasure the water bodies and jointly create a more livable environment.
Improvement works were carried out mainly to enhance the drainage capacity of the Kai Tak River. Upon completion of the works, Kai Tak River will meet the latest flood prevention design standards and be able to withstand rainstorms on the scale of a 200-year rainstorm, alleviating the flood risks in Choi Hung Road and surrounding area. In addition to upgrading drainage capacities, we are also taking this opportunity to incorporate aesthetic, greening, landscaping and ecological elements, thus revitalising the nullah into the first urban green river along a serene emerald corridor.
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Kai Tak River after revitalisation
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Draping plant Bougainvillea spectabilis along the banks of Kai Tak River
DSD plans to revitalise the existing Tai Wai Nullah, Fo Tan Nullah and Jordan Valley Nullah with aims to enhance the ecological value of the nullah, provide a greener environment, promote water friendliness and improve the community environment for building a livable city.
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Conceptual picture of the revitalised Tai Wai Nullah
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Conceptual picture of the revitalised Fo Tan Nullah
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Conceptual picture of the revitalised Jordan Valley Nullah
Shek Wu Hui Sewage Treatment Works (STW) will be upgraded to Shek Wu Hui Effluent Polishing Plant. Apart from expanding the plant to enhance the treatment level, facilities such as a bird watching area, a riverside promenade and an ecological garden, will be integrated into the Shek Wu Hui Effluent Polishing Plant improvement plan.
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Conceptual picture of riverside promenade adjacent to the new sludge treatment facility
Roof greening can mitigate air pollution in urban areas, lower indoor air temperature, reduce building energy consumption, beautify building appearance and create wildlife habitats to improve biodiversity of the surrounding environment. In 2018-19, we carried out roof greening for nine DSD facilities.
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Roof greening at Stonecutters Island Sewage Treatment Works Polymer Storage Building
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Roof greening at Wah Fu Preliminary Treatment Works
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Happy Valley Underground Stormwater Storage Tank
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Reclaimed water is being used for toilet flushing in the changing rooms in the Happy Valley Recreation Ground
In 2018-19, more than 1,800 cubic metres reclaimed water has been generated per day for non-potable use. The major water reclamation facilities are located in the Ngong Ping STW, Sha Tin STW and Pillar Point STW.
Furthermore, the Shek Wu Hui STW is being upgraded in stages to Shek Wu Hui Effluent Polishing Plant to enhance its treatment capability to tertiary treatment level. Part of the tertiary treated effluent at Shek Wu Hui Effluent Polishing Plant will be further polished by the Water Supplies Department as reclaimed water and supplied to north-east New Territories, i.e. Sheung Shui and Fanling, for toilet flushing and other nonpotable use.
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Water reclamation facilities at Shatin Sewage Treatment Works
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Shek Wu Hui STW Improvement Works
Since 2007, DSD has joined the Inter-departmental Working Group on Climate Change set up by the Environment Bureau for formulating polices and measures in adapting climate change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. In support of “Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2030+” (Action Plan) published by the Government in 2017 that encourages extensive use of renewable energy, DSD has actively implemented energy-saving initiatives and adopted solar power, hydropower and biogas to generate energy (Please refer to Chapter 1 Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Promoting Sustainable Development in Hong Kong for details).
In 2018-19, we continued to optimise the operation of our sewage treatment works and sewage pumping stations, as well as replace aging equipment with more energy efficient ones to save energy. Concurrently, we promoted wider use of renewable energy. The measures taken include:
During the year, the above measures saved a total of about 0.91 million kilowatt-hours of electricity (equivalent to carbon reduction of about 637 tonnes1).1).
| 1 | 2018 Scope 2 emissions were calculated based on the default factors provided by electricity providers in Hong Kong, Power Assets (0.79 CO2e kilogram/kilowatt-hours), CLP (0.51 CO2e kilogram/kilowatt-hours) and The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (0.592 CO2e kilogram/unit). |
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To further reduce greenhouse gas emissions from daily operation, carbon audits are conducted under DSD’s facilities in order to identify major sources of emissions. During the year, carbon audits were carried out at Stonecutters Island STW, Sha Tin STW, Tai Po STW, Shek Wu Hui STW, Siu Ho Wan STW, Stanley STW and Sham Tseng STW. With appropriate measures like reducing energy consumption of machinery, enhancing operation efficiency and using renewable energy, we have successfully lowered greenhouse gas emissions.
In future, DSD will continue to conduct carbon audits in STWs and adopt appropriate carbon reduction measures to provide quality storm water drainage and sewage treatment services for the public in the most environmentally friendly manner.
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Carbon Emissions in 2018 (in tonnes of CO2 equivalent)
| Scope One | Direct emissions generated from direct combustion of fuels + N2O emissions through nitrogen removal + Refrigerant Emissions + Methane Release from Sludge Digester – GHG removals by planting trees/applying solar power (in tonnes of CO2 equivalent) |
|---|---|
| Scope Two | Indirect emissions generated from the use of electricity + Towngas |
We make every effort to practise the green office concept in every aspect of our day-to-day operation. A series of green policies and measures are in place to raise the environmental awareness of our staff.
Bringing the green office concept into full play, we introduced a number of measures to reduce waste at the source. These include issuing guidelines on reducing paper consumption and green tips, and encouraging our staff to print on both sides as well as reusing one-sided paper and envelopes whenever possible. Forging ahead with the green office concept, we have been actively promoting “paperless meetings” by using electronic devices such as tablets and laptop computers for presentations and discussions in day-to-day meetings to reduce paper consumption.
During the year, DSD held about 195 paperless meetings and circulated 1,980 documents electronically. Total paper consumption was approximately 9,223 reams, down about 34% compared to 2009-10.
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Office pantry provides reusable tableware for colleagues during meetings and official events
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Electricity Saving: To reduce non-essential lighting and replace fluorescent T5 light with LED light
As reinforced in “Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2030+” published in 2017, the Government would step up the promotion of green buildings and reduce electricity consumption of government buildings. Guided by this principle over the years, DSD has implemented a number of energy saving measures in our offices, including setting the room temperature at 25.5˚C, reducing non-essential lighting, and using timers to turn off office equipment after office hours. Our electricity consumption has seen significant drop as a result.
Always in support of the Government’s green procurement policy, DSD gives due consideration to environmental factors when procuring goods and services. In 2018-19, we purchased a wide variety of products complying with green specifications, including electrical appliances such as photocopiers, printers, electric fans, computers and refrigerators to office consumables, such as recycled paper, correction tapes, pencils, rechargeable batteries, toilet paper and garbage bags.
In 2018-19, the Green Champions organised various activities, and believe that by taking part in various activities, our friends could share the joy of a sustainable way of living, and develop an environmentally friendly culture, both at work and at home.
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Books, Children’s Toys and Video Discs Exchange
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Beach Clean-up Activities
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Home | About this Report | Director’s Statement | Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Promoting Sustainable Development of Hong Kong | Highlights of the Year | Governance Approach | Our Core Responsibilities | Environmental Management | Caring for Our Staff | Stakeholder Engagement Activities
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