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Vivian Au

Elizabeth Cheung

Hong Kong’s leader has ordered authorities to replace hundreds of metres of bitumen-lined pipes as one of 10 measures to address residents’ concerns over black particles dirtying the water at two public housing estates.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu weighed in on Friday, a week after initial reports of the particles emerged, as he tasked Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun with supervising the implementation of the measures.
Government test results on Thursday confirmed that the particles found in the freshwater supply at Queens Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court in Fanling were bitumen, a substance produced through the distillation of crude oil and known for its waterproofing and adhesive properties.
It has been banned from use in water pipes since 2005, but authorities have stressed that the water remains safe to consume.
“I am highly concerned about the freshwater incident at Queens Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court, and I convened a high-level meeting [on Friday] afternoon,” Lee wrote on his social media page.
“The government is responsible to ensure the public can safely consume freshwater, and the incident must be handled quickly and the public concern can be thoroughly eased.”
He said authorities would replace first replace 400 metres of pipes lined with bitumen related to the current saga. The government will also have a long-term replacement plan for the rest of pipes lined with the substance.
The expert group, to be formed by members of the Drinking Water Safety Advisory Committee, will be tasked with tracing the source of the case.
A total of 22 filters have been installed in the water supply system at the two estates.
The Water Supplies Department will also test the water daily and announce the results on its website. The results will displayed daily in the lobbies of the estate buildings.
In the coming week, the department will wash the water tanks of those buildings once. A hotline has also been set up.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho will visit the site with officers from the department on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Director of Water Supplies Roger Wong Yan-lok said 700km (435 miles) of water pipes in the city were lined with bitumen.
The government has been accused of a slow response in delivering water test results and addressing residents’ concerns. Wong and a Housing Department head only confirmed bitumen had been found in the water supply on Thursday, five days after residents filed complaints and a day after tests commissioned by two media outlets showed the same results.
Wong could not give a definite answer for when all the black particles would be cleared, but said authorities would increase cleaning efforts in estates using the older pipes.
According to the water examination report for the two estates published by the department on Friday afternoon, all water samples collected between last Friday and Thursday were free of carcinogenic substances and not poisonous. The results also showed that the appearance of the water was clear.
Wong said he believed the bitumen came from the 400-metre-long (437-yard) steel water pipe laid in an upstream area, 2.6km away from the public estate, in 1987.

The substance could have lingered after Queens Hill Estate was used as a Covid-19 quarantine facility in 2022, when authorities received reports that a large amount of sediment was flowing in its pipes, he said.
Authorities had cleaned the pipes and installed filters to stop particles larger than 0.1mm from entering the estate’s pipes in December that year, he added.
Wong said the pipes in Queens Hill Estate were relatively large, with the one linking the two estates being 800 metres long. New development areas nearby would also share the same pipe system.
“If the water flow is not sufficient, sediment can easily accumulate,” he said.
Residents earlier said that they had to resort to buying bottled water, as the government’s cleaning work had not removed all particles.
A resident, surnamed Chan, said on a radio programme that households were still concerned about safety and worried that the filters might not be working.
“The particles are sticky and dissolved in the water,” he said, adding there were fewer particles than on the previous days.
Wong said the water was still safe for consumption, according to the government’s tests.
Lawmaker Judy Chan Kapui called on authorities to suspend the water supply and thoroughly clean the pipes in one go.
“I hope the government will consider replacing the ageing pipes to prevent similar situations,” she said.
A specialist in emergency medicine, who declined to be named, said bitumen could be more concerning for human health if it was in the form of vapour.
“There is a lot of vapour when bitumen is used for road surfacing. [The vapour] is more easily absorbed by the human body,” the medical expert said. “But those small particles [in the water] are inert … meaning it is unlikely for them to be absorbed or turned into something else.
“Usually they would just be passed out in faeces.”
He said the water could be consumed after it had been filtered, as bitumen was not soluble.
Black particles were also reported in the past, including in Kwun Tong’s Sau Mau Ping Estate in 2018 and Shau Kei Wan Oi Tung Estate in 2017.
Particles detected at Shau Kei Wan Oi Tung Estate were confirmed to be bitumen.


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Hong Kong leader orders ageing water pipes lined with bitumen to be replaced

Staff from the Housing Department and Water Supplies Department visit Queens Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court. Photo: handout

Authorities say the bitumen is believed to have come from a 400-metre-long steel water pipe laid in an area, 2.6km away from the Queens Hill Estate. Photo: Dickson Lee

Banned substance found in water supply of 2 Hong Kong housing estates

Residents of two Hong Kong public estates have started buying bottled water after finding black particles in their freshwater supply. Photo: Dickson Lee

Authorities say the tests show the bitumen is mixed with resin. Photo: Handout

A resident wraps a tap with tissue to filter out black particles. Photo: Nora Tam

Black particles in water? Hong Kong says supply at public housing estate is safe

Black particles that have collected inside a water filter. Photo: Facebook/Desmond Wang

Residents have taken to social media to post images of the black particles. Photo: Facebook/Desmond Wang

News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Society

John Lee outlines 10 measures to address concerns over black particles found in water supply at two public housing estates


John Lee outlines 10 measures to address concerns over black particles found in water supply at two public housing estates.


Hong Kong water supply

Infrastructure

John Lee

Hong Kong leader orders ageing water pipes lined with bitumen to be replaced

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}John Lee outlines 10 measures to address concerns over black particles found in water supply at two public housing estates

John Lee outlines 10 measures to address concerns over black particles found in water supply at two public housing estates