No one responsible for quality of Hong Kong drinking water, independent consultant tells lead-in-water inquiry
World Health Organisation expert says case is ‘unfortunate’ but admits it is difficult to monitor a large water supply system such as those in city’s public housing estates
Nobody has responsibility for ensuring the quality of drinking water in Hong Kong, an independent consultant on water safety and environment said on Wednesday.
“It’s unfortunate but that is the case,” Professor John Fawell told an inquiry into the tainted water scare in the city.
The scandal broke in June 2015 when tests showed tap water at Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City contained amounts of lead exceeding standards set by the World Health Organisation.
READ MORE: Hong Kong water authority’s responsibility for safety ‘had its limitations’, official tells tainted water inquiry
Government tests later found similar levels at several other public housing estates.
Fawell, a member of the WHO’s expert committee on the guidelines for drinking water quality noted that Hong Kong had enacted a law banning the use of lead in piping and that plumbers were required to be licensed.
But the city’s authorities only focused on their specific responsibilities, the biologist said.
The Water Supplies Department, as regulator, had made specifications for materials used in waterworks to prevent contamination, but its duty to ensure water safety had its limitations, the inquiry heard earlier.
READ MORE: Hong Kong lead-in-water scandal: US expert sees no serious impact for children who drank tainted water
