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Due to a burst water main at Wong Nai Chung Road in Happy Valley this morning (March 1), fresh water supply to some premises in Happy Valley is temporarily suspended.
Premises along Wong Nai Chung Road, Blue Pool Road and Leighton Road, Leighton Hill, Excelsior Hotel and Crowne Plaza Hotel are worst affected.
Furthermore, due to a decrease in water pressure following the above incident, water supply to some premises in Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and Happy Valley areas is now intermittent.
Repair work to the burst fresh water main by the Water Supplies Department is continuing. Water tanks and water wagons have been arranged at various locations (as shown on the attached map) in Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and Happy Valley to provide a temporary water supply for residents in the affected areas.
The burst main is an 18-inch diameter fresh water pipe located under the fast lane of Wong Nai Chung Road adjacent to 95 Wong Nai Chung Road. The problem was reported at about 5am this morning.
"The main burst caused extensive flooding of the nearby carriageway and footpath. Identification of the valves for isolation of the burst main was very difficult and it took some time for us to identify and operate some 20 valves before the burst main could be completely isolated," a spokesman for the Water Supplies Department said.
The burst water main is included in the Replacement and Rehabilitation Programme of Water Mains and the new main was scheduled for commissioning under Stage 4 of the programme in mid 2012. In view of today's incident the department will assess whether the water mains at this location should be replaced earlier.
The Water Supplies Department is conducting emergency repair works on the burst water main with a view to resuming the fresh water supply as soon as possible.
Ends/Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Issued at HKT 18:16
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