Enterprises Cherish Water Campaign Awards Ceremony commends over 600 commercial and industrial organisations for water conservation (with photos)

     The Water Supplies Department and the Green Council jointly organised the Enterprises Cherish Water Campaign (ECH2O) and held the ECH2O Awards Ceremony today (March 22) to commend the contribution made by the participating organisations and staff to water conservation. Officiating guests at the ceremony included the Director of Water Supplies, Mr Tony Yau, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Green Council, Ms Linda Ho.

The ECH2O has garnered the participation of 624 commercial and industrial organisations. The one-year campaign started in January 2022. All participating premises have achieved a significant reduction in overall water consumption in 2022 by 5 per cent, or about 500 000 cubic metres, which is equivalent to 200 Olympic-size swimming pools. The effectiveness of the campaign is remarkable.

In his speech at the ceremony, Mr Yau said that due to the climate change impact in recent years, water yield in both Hong Kong and the Dongjiang River Basin on the Mainland has become unstable. Moreover, the COVID-19 epidemic has changed people's water-using habits leading to an increase in water consumption. Fresh water consumption in Hong Kong has risen from 996 million cubic metres in 2019 before the epidemic to more than 1 000 million cubic metres in 2022, reaching 1 066 million cubic metres. The increase amounted to 70 million cubic metres in just three years. The production capacity of the Tseung Kwan O Desalination Plant currently under construction is only 50 million cubic metres. Obviously, Hong Kong should never neglect the threat of water shortage. As the society returns to normality after the epidemic, he stated that the Water Supplies Department would launch a new water conservation campaign, comprising a number of publicity and public engagement activities, with a view to working with the public to cultivate the habit of saving water in daily life. The campaign aims to achieve full participation of the public in saving water and cherishing precious water resources in order to ensure sustainable water supply. He also particularly expressed heartfelt gratitude to all the organisations for their active participation in the ECH2O and remarkable achievements in reducing water consumption.

Currently, non-domestic water consumption accounts for about 45 per cent of fresh water consumption in Hong Kong and most of it is closely related to the use in commercial and industrial sectors. To enhance water efficiency, the Water Supplies Department and the Green Council launched the ECH2O for the first time in 2022, aiming to create a collaborative platform for the commercial and industrial sectors to promote water conservation through various activities.

The list of winners is available on the ECH2O website (www.greencouncil.org/ech2o).