SEE inspects progress of improving odour of Victoria Harbour’s coastal waters (with photos)

     The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, visited the waterfront areas of To Kwa Wan, Sham Shui Po and Wan Chai today (September 30) to learn about the progress for improving the quality and odour of Victoria Harbour's coastal waters.

     Accompanied by the Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Environment), Miss Janice Tse, and the Director of Environmental Protection, Dr Samuel Chui, Mr Tse visited Cheung Sha Wan waterfront and was briefed by officers of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) on the conditions of sewer misconnections and the progress of rectification works. They also visited the odour-monitoring device installed at the waterfront to learn about the collection of odour data in real time and the innovative technologies and equipment in identifying pollution sources.

     Mr Tse was pleased to learn that the odour problem close to the waterfront had substantially improved and the overall pollution load in priority districts including Tsuen Wan, Sham Shui Po and Kowloon City had been reduced by about 80 per cent, exceeding the target set in the 2022 Policy Address of reducing the pollution load at identified outfalls emanating stench in specific districts by half before end-2024.

     Mr Tse then inspected the bioremediation works carried out by the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) at To Kwa Wan Typhoon Shelter, which can speed up the removal of organic pollution in the sediment and facilitate the elimination of the sediment's odour, thereby further ameliorating coastal odour problems. Finally, Mr Tse went to the waterfront areas of Wan Chai to learn about the various water quality improvement measures in the area, where triathlon events for the 15th National Games will be hosted in 2025.

     Mr Tse said, "With the progressive implementation of a series of water quality improvement measures by the Government, the water quality and odour problems along the waterfront areas have significantly improved. We will continue to closely monitor the coastal water quality and odour problem, and proactively rectify the remaining sewer misconnection cases to further improve the near-shore residual odour and water quality in the districts and thereby provide a fresh and pleasant environment to promote water-friendly culture and activities along waterfront areas."

     To address the odour problems along the coastal areas of Victoria Harbour, the EPD, in collaboration with other relevant government departments such as the Buildings Department and the Drainage Services Department, will trace major pollution sources in stormwater drainage systems to rectify sewer misconnection cases to intercept pollutants at source from entering the harbour, thereby improving the near-shore environment. In parallel, the CEDD has adopted dredging and bioremediation technologies to remove polluted and exposed sediments to further improve the near-shore water quality and the environment in priority areas.