Race to resume water supply to leak-hit Tuen Mun area

The Water Supplies Department said it expects to gradually restore supply to areas in Tuen Mun by 7pm on Thursday.

Supply to four estates and a secondary school in Tuen Mun was suspended from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning after the department received reports of a water mains leakage at a construction site on Castle Peak Road near Fu Fat Lane.

The suspension later also affected Villa Tiara, Hin Fat Estate, Handsome Court, Alpine Garden and Tuen Mun Government Secondary School from 11pm on Wednesday after a new leak was found.

Repairs were originally expected to conclude by noon on Thursday.

In a social media post, the department apologised for the inconvenience caused.

It said repairs on the pipe were "complicated" due to its location beneath a dense network of intersecting underground utilities and access to it being obstructed by concrete structures surrounding other underground pipelines.

More time is therefore needed, it said.

The department also said it had evaluated the possibility of suspending the work and temporarily restoring water for the day.

However, it said, such a move might cause large amounts of water to gush out from the site of the leakage since excavation work had begun and that may affect nearby roads and residents.

The department has stepped up drinking water supply arrangements, including deploying two water trucks, more than 30 water tanks and distributing bottled water.

It also said it would include the pipe section involved in its risk-based improvement programme of water mains, and work closely with the relevant departments and stakeholders to formulate a plan to replace that section of the main as soon as possible.

Edited by Altis Wong ...