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Water sampling tests for 19 public rental housing (PRH) estates completed before 2005 have been completed. All data met the World Health Organization (WHO)'s guideline value for lead in drinking water.
The Chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) announced on July 24 that water sampling tests would be conducted for all PRH estates. It was announced on September 24 that systematic water sampling tests for PRH developments completed in and after 2005 had been completed. The Housing Department (HD) and the Water Supplies Department (WSD) are now adopting a two-step approach in conducting water sampling tests for the 143 PRH estates completed before 2005 by batches.
A spokesman for the HD said, "First of all, the HD and the WSD would conduct a representative screening for these estates by batches. Depending on the size of the estates, we will select several blocks from each of them, and take water samples from each of the selected blocks. If individual estates are found to have water samples containing excessive lead content in the first stage, we will conduct systematic water sampling tests for all blocks within that estate, covering every independent fresh water supply system located within each block, to determine the overall lead content in the drinking water of that estate."
The results announced today cover 19 PRH estates involving 323 water samples. Water test results of 85 PRH estates completed before 2005 have been announced so far. All samples were taken from the fresh water supply systems installed by the HA, and all of them met the WHO's guideline limit (see Annex). The HA will continue with this exercise and aims to complete it before the end of the year.
Ends/Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:10
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