With the growth in population and economic development over the years, Hong Kong is facing the challenges of increasing of demand for fresh water. The fresh water consumption in Hong Kong is about 1,000 million m3 annually.
(Source: Census and Statistics Department)
The Water Demand Projection is made by Water Supplies Department (WSD) based on the baseline population projection of 8.2 million by 2040 provided by the Census and Statistics Department and the Territorial Population and Employment Data Matrix (TPEDM) compiled by the Planning Department. The water demand model has been developed to forecast the water demand till year 2040 taking into account different factors, including future territorial population, employment structure, economic growth, planned and latest known development proposals of relevant government departments, quasi-government bodies and the private sector, meteorology, etc. Under this expected population growth scenario, the annual fresh water demand is projected to increase to 1,110 mcm in 2040, in the absence of water demand management measures.
Having projected the water demand in the future, water management measures need to be implemented to ensure sustainability of water supply in Hong Kong. In aspiring for sustainable development, WSD promulgated the Total Water Management Strategy (the Strategy) which is a long-term strategy covering two limbs viz. water demand management and water supply management in 2008. After its implementation for some years, WSD had carried out a review on the Strategy to ascertain the effectiveness. For details, please visit Total Water Management Strategy.