Hong Kong official says poor pipe quality suspected in Tung Chung water outage | South China Morning Post

Material in burst pipe, in use for 27 years, possibly ‘not done well’, with delays in resumption of supply due to complicated repair works

The poor quality of a burst pipe and possible abnormal underground conditions may have caused leaks that resulted in a 12-hour water outage in Tung Chung, a senior Hong Kong official on water supplies has said amid an ongoing investigation.

Director of Water Supplies Roger Wong Yan-lok on Tuesday revealed leads on the investigation into a burst water pipe at Cheung Tung Road near Siu Ho Wan Water Treatment Works that left tens of thousands of residents and hotel guests without clean water from Sunday night to Monday morning.

There could have been problems with the quality of the 1.2-metre (3.9-foot) diameter steel pipe since it had been in use for only 27 years, which was considered “rather young” for such a piece of equipment, Wong told a radio show.

“Perhaps the material was not done well in certain parts of the pipe and so there could be some partial damage,” he said.

He said the authorities were also looking into possible issues underground.

“We would also see whether there are any special sources of pressure in the environment … also if there were any abnormal conditions underground.”