FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY

SBS5221/SPB5112 PIPED SERVICES

WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM - 1

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 INTRODUCTION
For water pipe works approved by "Water Supplies Department (WSD),"
compliance with the following two provisions is required:
 Statutory requirements within the Waterworks Ordinance/Regulations
 Design requirements of the Water Supplies Department (WSD)

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 INTRODUCTION
Waterworks Ordinance/Regulations:
 Waterworks Ordinance (Chapter 102) (WWO)
 Waterworks Regulation (Chapter 102A) (WWR)

Design requirements:
 Technical Requirements for Plumbing Works in Buildings
 Guide to Application for Water Supply
 WSD Circular Letters to Licensed Plumbers and Authorized
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EXISTING WATER RESOURCES

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 EXISTING WATER RESOURCES

Hong Kong has a 3-pronged water

supply system
• Comprising rainwater from local catchments
• Imported water from DongJiang in
GuangDong
• Seawater for toilet flushing.

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 EXISTING WATER RESOURCES
Local Yield
 With no natural lakes, large rivers or
underground water, Hong Kong has
developed an extensive rainwater
collection and storage system.
 About one third of Hong Kong’s
land designated as water gathering
grounds where surface runoff is
collected for storage.

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 EXISTING WATER RESOURCES
Local Yield – Reservoirs
Hong Kong’s rainfall varies greatly from the rainy season to the dry season. Therefore, we
need to construct reservoirs as buffers to cope with the imbalance in water supply and
demand in different seasons. In this connection, when designing the water catchments and
capacities of reservoirs, our main concern is whether the amount of water collected in the
catchments and stored in the reservoirs can cope with the demand of the designated
areas in dry years.

石壁水塘
 EXISTING WATER RESOURCES
DongJiang Water – Quality
• Under the current DongJiang water supply agreement, the GuangDong authorities would
maintain the quality of the DongJiang water supplied to hong kong to meet the national standard
set out for type II waters (applicable to the abstraction for human consumption in first class
protection area) in the “environmental quality standards for surface water GB3838-2002”.
• The DongJiang water quality is closely monitored through a 24-hour on-line monitoring system
installed at the reception point of the Muk Wu raw water pumping stations.
• Regular water samples are also collected at Muk Wu raw water pumping stations for detailed
analysis to ensure that the DongJiang water supply complies with the required standard.

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 EXISTING WATER RESOURCES
DongJiang water quality for the period of Apr 2020 to Mar 2021 (some selected important
parameters also required for new project) are listed below :

Monitoring Data (04/2020 – GB3838-2002

Paramete 03/2021) Type II Standard
Units Compliance
rs value
Min Max Average
pH pH 7.2 8.5 7.8 6-9 Yes
Copper mg/L <0.003 0.045 <0.005 <1 Yes
Cadmium mg/L <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.005 Yes
Chromium mg/L <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.005 Yes
Lead mg/L <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.01 Yes
E. coli no./L 0 500 40 <2000 Yes
Chloride mg/L 7 12 10 <250 Yes

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 EXISTING WATER RESOURCES
DongJiang Water – Price

Year Expenditure Change Average unit

(HK$ million) cost
(HK$/m3)
2021 4,885.53 +1.33% 0.300

2022 4,950.51 +1.33% 0.304

2023 5,016.35 +1.33% 0.308

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 EXISTING WATER RESOURCES
Seawater for Flushing
 Many places in the world are still using fresh water for toilet flushing.
 Since the late 1950’s, WSD has been supplying seawater for flushing.
 Up till now, Hong Kong is one of the few places extensively applying seawater for flushing.
 Total 270 mm3 of seawater is supplied every year, conserving an equivalent amount of fresh
water.
 Seawater for flushing requires a separate distribution system, both regional and within buildings.

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 EXISTING WATER RESOURCES
Sea Water Supply Zone

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EXISTING WATER RESOURCES

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 EXISTING WATER RESOURCES

Benefits of conversion to seawater for flushing

• Owing to lower electricity consumption for supplying seawater than fresh
water
• Reduce carbon dioxide emission.
• Reduce Consumers’ water bills.

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 WATER TREATMENT
REASONS
• Purify raw water to comply with WHO guidelines for drinking water quality
• Free from harmful bacteria and suspended matter
• Colourless
• Pleasant to taste
• Maintain reasonable hardness
• There are now 20 water treatment works with a total capacity of 5.31 million
cubic metre per day to supply fresh water to a population of more than 7 million
in Hong Kong.

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 WATER TREATMENT PROCESS
• During the water treatment process, raw (untreated) water is pre-treated
by dosing with chemicals and then passes to the clarifiers for removal of
relatively large particles and impurities in water. Clarified water then flows
into filters for filtering out the more finely divided particles. The filtered
water is disinfected before supply to the public. A small amount of
residual chlorine is maintained in the water to prevent bacterial growth on
the rest of its journey. Fluoride is also added for dental protection.

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TYPICAL WATER TREATMENT PROCESS

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 PRE-TREATMENT
Pre-treatment
• Various chemicals may be added into raw water as pre-treatment to facilitate the
subsequent treatment process:
• Alum – to coagulate impurities
• Hydrated lime – to control pH
• Polyelectrolyte – to facilitate coagulation
• Potassium permanganate kmno4 – to facilitate removal of manganese
• Ozone O3 – to oxidise impurities, control algae growth and remove taste and odour
• Powdered activated carbon (PAC) – to remove taste and odour

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 CLARIFICATION
To coagulate the particles to form large flocs that can be removed. The
technologies of clarification includes:
• Multi-deck Sedimentation

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 CLARIFICATION
• High Rate Lamella Sedimentation

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 CLARIFICATION
• Solids Contact Clarification

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 CLARIFICATION
• Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF)

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 FILTRATION
To remove the more finely divided suspensions by “gravity filtration” or
“biological filtration”
• Gravity Filtration

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 FILTRATION
Biological Filtration
• Biological nitrification process employs the naturally occurred nitrifying bacteria in the
raw water to convert ammonia into nitrate under favorable conditions. This process is
successfully applied in the biological filtration of water treatment.
• Nitrifying bacteria grow best on filter media with a large surface area, including…
• Bio Balls
• Filter Floss
• Sponges
• Ceramic Noodles

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Bio Balls Filter Floss Sponges Ceramic Noodles

FILTRATION

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 DISINFECTION
• The filtered water is disinfected by adding chlorine or ozone in contact tank.
• Ozone is a powerful disinfectant as well as oxidant. Use of ozone also benefits
from its other treatment effects including taste and odour control, oxidation of
iron and manganese, and reduction in chlorine dose. Ozone does not leave a
disinfectant residual in water and use of chlorine is required for disinfection and
to maintain the disinfectant residual in distribution system. Downstream
biological filtration process is usually needed for removing the assimilable
organic carbon formed due to ozonation to maintain biologically stable treated
water.

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DISINFECTION

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 WATER TREATMENT
After going through the water treatment processes, the quality of water is closely
monitored by laboratories with chemical, bacteriological and biological
examinations of water samples taken to ensure compliance with the guidelines for
drinking-water quality recommended by the world health organization, and to
ensure a safe and wholesome potable supply.

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 WATER TREATMENT
Seawater for flushing
• Seawater is not treated to the same standard as fresh water, but its standard
still has to comply with the guidelines laid down by the WSD to ensure the
quality of seawater for flushing to be acceptable.
• The seawater is firstly screened by strainers to remove sizeable particles, and
then disinfected with chlorine or hypochlorite to ensure the water quality meets
the WSD’s guideline on colour, turbidity, odour, etc., before being pumped to
service reservoirs and for distribution to consumers.

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 WATER CHARGES
Domestic rate for a four-month period HK$/m3
First tier – first 12 m3 Free
Second tier – next 31m3 4.16
Third tier – next 19m3 6.45
Fourth tier – for the remainder exceeding 62m3 9.05
Fresh water for flushing for a four-month period HK$/m3
First tier – first 30m3 Free
Second tier – for the remainder exceeding 30m3 4.58
Non-domestic HK$/m3
Trade purposes 4.58
Construction purposes 7.11
Non-local vessels purposes 10.93
Local vessels purposes 4.58

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 WATER CHARGES
Comparison of drinking water charges in hong kong with other major cities in
2017:

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 SEWAGE CHARGES
Domestic rate for a four-month period HK$/m3
First tier – first 12m3 Free
Second tier – for the remainder 2.92

 For trade, business and manufacture consumers, the sewage charges are calculated at
$2.92/m3 (with effect from 1.4.2017) of water supplied. There is no sewage charge for
shipping supplies if there is no connection to a communal drain or a communal sewer.
 Some trades are eligible for 30% discount on their sewage charges payable. They are : -

Item Trade, Business or Manufacture Item Trade, Business or Manufacture

1 Bleaching and dyeing of garments 6 Soft drinks & carbonated waters
industries
2 Bleaching and dyeing of knitted fabric 7 Breweries and manufacture of malt liquor
3 Bleaching and dyeing of woven fabric 8 Distilling, rectifying and blending spirits
4 Bleaching and dyeing of yarn 9 Restaurants
5 Knit outerwear 10 Ice-making industry 32
 COMMON WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS
Water supply system may be generally classified into the following categories:
1. Potable water system
2. Non-potable water system
3. Flushing water system

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 COMMON WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS

Potable water system

Potable water system may be defined as fresh water that will supply all sanitary fixtures for
general ablution and drinking usages. Fixtures to be supplied by this system will include:

- Hand basins in bathrooms and toilets

- Bathtubs
- Showers in washrooms and bathrooms
- Kitchen sink and pantry sinks
- Kitchen equipment including taps and sinks
- Drinking fountains
- Laundry sinks
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 COMMON WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS
Potable water system – for communal kitchens and laundries
Dependent on the sizes of communal kitchens and laundries, potable water supplies to kitchens and
laundries may be separated from the system for general ablution purposes. The purposes to provide
independent systems for these areas are to :
 Provide separate metering in case the end users of the systems are different from those of the basic
building plumbing system.
 To avoid starving of the basic plumbing system due to the sudden increase in water demand in the
kitchens and laundries.
 To avoid cross contamination to the basic plumbing system by equipment in the kitchens and laundries.
 For the reason to further avoid cross contamination, water supplies to dish washers and hydro-vents are
required to be separated from the potable water for sinks and taps inside kitchens, in accordance with
the Water Authority’s regulations.
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 COMMON WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS
Non-potable water system
Fresh water supplies any equipment and fixtures for purposes other than general ablution
and drinking usages will be classified as non-potable water. Equipment and fixtures
requiring non-potable water supply are:

- Clinical/surgical hand basins

- Laboratory/workshop sinks
- Bed pan washers
- Sluice sinks
- Slop/cleaner sinks
- Emergency acid shower
- Steam sterilizers
- Medical equipment
- Experimental/ industrial machinery 36
 COMMON WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS
Flushing water system
Dependent on the availability of flushing water sources, flushing water may be taken from
the following:

- Government fresh water main

Approved by the Water Authority
- Government sea water main
- Private sea water supply Used need not to be submitted to the Water Authority
- Well water or spring water

 Flushing water systems are not permitted to cross-connect with any other potable or
non-potable water system even though if fresh water maybe used in the flushing system.

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 WATER SUPPLY – WATER METER
• The supply of drinking water/temporary fresh water for flushing into the
internal water supply system shall be recorded by water meters.
• The size, number and siting of water meters will be determined and
provided by the Water Authority(WA).
• Meters shall be sited at a meter room/box/cabinet at convenient locations
in accessible communal area
• up to and including 40 mm diameter  a loose jumper type stopcock
• > 40 mm diameter  a gate valve before the meter position and a non-
return or check valve fitted on the delivery side
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 WATER SUPPLY – WATER METER
• The type of the water meter:

Meter Size (mm) Recommended Remarks

Meter Type
15 to 40 Rotary Piston --
50 Single-jet  Good low flow performance
 Must be installed horizontally
Ultrasonic  Good low flow performance
 Better high flow performance than single-jet
meter
50, 80 and 100 Turbine (Woltmann)  Good high flow performance
50 and above Electromagnetic  Good high flow performance
 Better low flow performance than turbine meter

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 WATER SUPPLY – WATER METER
• Salt water supply will not be
metered
• A meter position shall be provided
for the purpose of periodic checking
of consumption

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 WATER SUPPLY – WATER METER
• For meters arranged in groups
300mm ≤ meter position ≤ 1500 mm
above the floor level
• For projects where corridor meter
arrangement is chosen and accepted
750mm ≤ individual meter position ≤ 1500
mm above the floor level

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 WATER SUPPLY – WATER METER
• Master Meter Position
 more than 1 building block
 in all new government premises (including developments with no building block and
single block building)
 not required for single detached village type buildings and single block buildings
 installed for each FW/TMF/FS inlet pipe supplying a development site at the lot
boundary irrespective of the number of connection points to the government mains
 a strainer shall be installed upstream of all master meter
 a pressure tapping point at the straight pipe after flange adapter to master meters
of 50mm and above shall be provided for pressure monitoring

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WATER SUPPLY – WATER METER

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 WATER SUPPLY – SUPPLY MODES

• Fresh water supply to buildings with an overall height of less than or equal to 12m can
be effected in one of the two following ways:-
(A) direct supply system; or
(B) indirect supply system, with a storage tank, a sump-and-pump system or a
hydro-pneumatic pump system

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 45

Direct supply system

Indirect supply system – Indirect supply system –
sump and pump supply hydro-pneumatic pump supply system
system 46
 WATER SUPPLY – SUPPLY MODES

• Fresh water supply to buildings with an overall height ≥ 12m shall be supplied by indirect
supply systems
• The minimum residual pressure for fresh water would be 15 to 20 meter head measured
at the connection to the main.
• The fresh supply inside service should be designed to the minimum available residual
pressure as advised by the WA.

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 REASONS FOR DIRECT/INDIRECT SUPPLY?
Some advantages of direct and indirect systems
Direct
1. Less pipework, making it cheaper to install.
2. Drinking water available at wash basins
Indirect
1. Large capacity storage cistern, provides a
reserve of water during the failure of the mains
supply
2. The water pressure on the taps supplied
from the cistern is reduced minimize noises
and wear on the taps.
3. Fittings supplied with water from the cistern
are prevented from causing contamination of
the drinking water by back siphonage
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 WHY WE NEED STORAGE TANK?

Nearly all water systems include some form of storage, most commonly a tank. Storage can be used to:
• Cover peaks in demand
• Smooth out variations in supply
• Provide water security in case of supply interruptions or disaster
• Meet legal requirements
• Improve water quality
• Provide thermal storage and freeze protection
• Enable a smaller pipe to serve for a distant source
• etc.

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 PNEUMATIC BOOSTER SUPPLY SYSTEM
• Water supplies are pumped into a pressure vessel, the
pressure vessel is normally filled about 2/3 of its height
and 1/3 being filled with compressed air.
• The compressed air imposed a pressure on the surface of
the water which in turn imposed the same pressure on
the entire system.
• As water is drawn off at various point, the pressure inside
the pressure vessel will fall and at this time a pressure
switch will operate the pump to refill the pressure vessel.

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 SIZING OF PRESSURE VESSEL
The capacity of diaphragm pressure tank can be computed by the following equation:
𝑄𝑄𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 × 𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝑉𝑉𝑡𝑡 = 16.5 × ×
𝑆𝑆 ∆𝑃𝑃 × 𝑃𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
where
𝑉𝑉𝑡𝑡 = the capacity of pressure tank (L)
𝑄𝑄𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = average flow of the pump (L/min)
𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = absolute maximum working pressure (bar)*
+1bar
𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = absolute minimum working pressure (bar)*
+1bar 𝑃𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 is the absolute pressure to
∆𝑃𝑃 = difference between 𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 and 𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 (bar) which the tank is pre-loaded, that
𝑃𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = absolute pressure 𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 − 0.5 (bar) never be more than the 𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝑆𝑆 = operating cycles per hour (recommended by pump manufacturers usually range from 12-15 starts per hour)

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 SIZING OF PRESSURE VESSEL
Example:
Assume pump flow is 300 𝐿𝐿/𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚, design booster pump cut-out pressure is 4 bar while cut-
in pressure is 3 bar and operating cycle is 10 cycles/hr

Determine the capacity of pressure tank.

𝑄𝑄𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 × 𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

𝑉𝑉𝑡𝑡 = 16.5 × ×
𝑆𝑆 ∆𝑃𝑃 × 𝑃𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝

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 SIZING OF PRESSURE VESSEL
Solution:
Assume pump flow is 300 𝐿𝐿/𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚, design booster pump cut-out pressure is 4 bar while cut-
in pressure is 3 bar and operating cycle is 10 cycles/hr 𝑄𝑄𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 × 𝑃𝑃𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝑉𝑉𝑡𝑡 = 16.5 × ×
𝑆𝑆 ∆𝑃𝑃 × 𝑃𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
Determine the capacity of pressure tank.

300 (4 + 1) × (3 + 1)
𝑉𝑉𝑡𝑡 = 16.5 × ×
10 (5 − 4) × (4 − 0.5)
𝑉𝑉𝑡𝑡 = 2828.6𝐿𝐿
No. of diaphragm pressure tank required = 2
Capacity of each diaphragm pressure tank = 1500L
Total tank capacity = 2 x 1500 = 3000L 53
REFERENCE

54
Vn norminal volume ( litres )
Pneumatic booster supply system – case (i) application at G/F

55
Pneumatic booster supply system – case (ii) application at top floor

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 VARIABLE SUPPLY SYSTEM
• Where a pump has been installed for a range
of duties, it will have been sized to meet the
greatest output demand.
• It will therefore usually be oversized, and will
be operating inefficiently for other duties.
• Consequently, there is an opportunity to
achieve an energy cost savings by using
control methods as variable speed, which
reduce the power to drive the pump during the
periods of reduced demand.

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ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DIFFERENT PUMPING SYSTEMS
System Advantages Disadvantages
Direct Supply • No storage tank needed • Unreliable supply,
• contamination of water mains,
• Pressure fluctuation

Indirect Supply • Reserve capacity, • Additional tanks loading,

• Fewer control, • Maintenance of tank
• Min. pressure fluctuation

Pneumatic booster • Eliminate high level storage, • Vessel maintenance,

Supply System • Control inside pump room • Higher power/cost,
• Pressure variation,
• Supply rely on power source

Variable Supply • Eliminate high level storage, • Supply rely on power source,
System • Control inside pump room, • Accurate sensor control
• No pressure variation required 58