The Water Supplies Department (WSD) announced today (January 27) that it will resume the provision of some basic public services upon the implementation of targeted measures to reduce social contact, and measures for infection control of COVID-19. The arrangements for affected public services of the WSD commencing tomorrow (January 28) are as follows:
* The Customer Enquiries Centre (CEC) in Wan Chai will remain in service, whereas CECs in Sha Tin, Tai Po and Tuen Mun will be re-opened. The opening hours of the four CECs will be from 10am to 4pm (Monday to Friday). The CEC in Tai Kok Tsui will continue to be closed;
* The Document Management Centre (DMC) located on 43/F, Immigration Tower, Wan Chai, will continue to receive submissions of documents, including water supply applications and plumbing proposals. Processing of these submissions will be prioritised according to their category, urgency and other factors. The opening hours of the DMC will be from 10am to 4pm from Monday to Friday;
* The 24-hour Customer Services Hotline (2824 5000) will handle emergency and general enquiries as normal. Enquiries on account matters or applications for change of consumership will be diverted to voice mail as necessary. The voice messages will be replied to as soon as possible;
* The H2OPE Centre (Water Resources Public Education Centre) will continue to be closed;
* The "Excursion with Water Save Dave" Visiting Programme for individuals and groups will continue to be cancelled; and
* Routine meter readings at high-risk locations are suspended. For affected customers, the WSD will issue water bills to them after resumption of routine meter readings with water consumption calculated according to the last and the latest actual meter readings for the combined period of the relevant billing cycles for issue of the water bills. Due to the deferred billing, the water bills issued by then may cover water charges of two billing periods (including deferred water charges) and the amount payable may be more than the usual water bills covering only one billing period. Please refer to the WSD website (www.wsd.gov.hk/en/customer-services/manage-account-and-water-bills/water-sewage-tariff/index.html) for details of the above calculation of water charges.
The arrangements above will remain effective until further notice. As full-scale services have not been resumed yet, the processing of various enquiries and applications may take a longer time. For cases with time constraint, applications should be made as early as possible to allow ample time for processing. To reduce social contact, an appeal is also made to the public to minimise visiting the CECs and the DMC in person unless necessary. The public should consider filing enquiries as well as requests for service through the Customer Services Hotline or by email (wsdinfo@wsd.gov.hk).
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