‘Significant distress’: calls grow for faster water pipe replacement after repeated bursts

Hong Kong residents have been experiencing significant distress due to a series of water pipe bursts in the Tuen Mun area. In less than a week, three pipes have burst in the same region, prompting calls for faster replacement and monitoring of the ageing water infrastructure. The latest incident occurred on Monday morning, affecting about 7,000 residents and causing water supply disruptions.

The Water Supplies Department had to suspend water supply to four residential complexes near Tuen Lee Street in Tuen Mun for emergency repairs, which took 19 hours to complete due to the pipe's location and the need to avoid disrupting traffic on Castle Peak Road. The pipes in the area are over 40 years old, and authorities had planned to replace 1.8km of pipes, including the ones involved in the recent leaks, but the incident occurred before the replacement could begin.

Experts suggest that the heavy traffic on Castle Peak Road, ongoing construction projects, and uneven water pressure contribute to the frequent pipe bursts, urging the government to expedite the replacement process and improve pressure monitoring.

Brief written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.