The Drainage Services Department has awarded a contract for the construction of disinfection facilities at Stonecutters Island Sewage Treatment Works.

It is the first construction contract under Stage 2A of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme. The works will start on April 29 for completion in October next year. The cost involved is $108 million. 

The construction of disinfection facilities will significantly improve the water quality off the Tsuen Wan beaches by disinfecting the effluent, reducing the E. coli level in the treated discharge.

In parallel, the department is constructing new sewers in the Sham Tseng area to improve the local sewerage networks and to intercept flows from unsewered areas which are also polluting the Tsuen Wan beaches.

The completion of the disinfection facilities and the local sewerage improvement works will allow the re-opening of the affected Tsuen Wan beaches at the earliest opportunity.

The scheme is a major sewerage infrastructure project in Hong Kong. The commissioning of the scheme's Stage 1 in late 2001, which treats about 75% of the sewage discharged into Victoria Harbour, has brought significant improvement in water quality.

Upon the commissioning of the scheme's Stage 2A, targeted for 2014, the remaining 25% of sewage discharging into the harbour, generated from the northern and western sides of Hong Kong Island, will be collected for chemical treatment and disinfection.