The fresh water supply of Tung Chung Town area was gradually resumed from about 10am today, Director of Water Supplies Roger Wong said.

Due to emergency repair works on a fresh water pipe at Cheung Tung Road near Siu Ho Wan Water Treatment Works of Lantau Island, the area's fresh water supply was affected from 10pm yesterday.

Around 120,000 Tung Chung residents were affected, Mr Wong told a media session.

The department’s preliminary investigation found that the pipe was a watermain with a diameter of 1,200mm, which supplies potable water to the Tung Chung area.

The department will thorougly investigate the incident and compile a report to the Development Bureau as early as possible.

Mr Wong noted that the failure mode is very rare, as the leakage occurred at the bottom of the pipe.

“Normally it is on the top side or both sides of the pipe because this is the area that is subject to most vibrations from the traffic.”

He also explained why the expected time of water resumption was postponed from 6am to 10am and apologised for any confusion caused.

“Because of the complicatedness of the work and also the large scale resumption of water, we needed to do extra flushing in order to ensure the quality of water to the public. We had to adjust the water resumption time in the morning. We should apologise to the residents of Tung Chung.”

Mr Wong added that seven water trucks and 60 water tanks were dispatched to provide an emergency water supply to the affected users during the incident.

Given the severity of the incident and the extensive area affected, an emergency response mechanism was activated in collaboration with relevant government departments to handle the situation swiftly.

About 80 members from seven District Services & Community Care Teams worked overnight in the affected estates and villages to assist the residents.

The Home Affairs Department has been closely monitoring the situation and dispatched staff to the scene to inspect and co-ordinate.

The Housing Department has also been in close contact with the Water Supplies Department.

Additionally, the relevant property services offices and management offices immediately issued emergency notices to inform the affected residents and distributed bottled water.