C4 Urban Problems

Cathy
Phoebe
Melissa
Nicole
Koffey

Water Pollution
The amount of exotic materials entering the

water body reaches a level that destroys the

original usage
Water pollution can destroy the
marine/groundwater/fresh surface water
system

Black spots of the sea

pollution
Northeastern part of the Victoria Harbour

1.
2.
3.
4.

Western coast of the Kowloon East

Tolo Harbour
Kowloon Bay

Causes
1. Residential sewage
2. Agricultural waste
3. Industrial sewage
4. Urban sewage
5. Silt by soil erosion
6. Others : reclamation,

oil spillage, acid rain, etc.

1. Rapid development of
infrastructure and
Over West Kowloon: large scale reclamation
reclamation
projects
Reduces the size of harbour
Affects the ability of transport and tidal washing
Pollutants cannot be diluted or drifted away

Reclamation in
West Kowloon

2. Serious water pollution in

the
typhoon
shelter
storm storm water drains receive raw

raw
sewage and industrial effluent via
improper connections
Some discharges are from vessels themselves.
Some vessel users also dump garbage into
the water.
It has stagnant water flow

Pollutants cannot be flushed

out easily

3. Results of urbanization
and
industrialization
Increasing size of population and the improving
living standard
Waste and industrial sewage increase
Affect the assimilate( ) of the ocean
Most obvious in the sheltered bay and inner bay
which have slow water current
The amount of pollutants has increased greatly

Economic impacts
Decrease in irrigation water:
Animal wastes / agro-chemicals contaminate

ground
water
+ streams
Farming productivity
Inputs + costs increase
Revenue

Economic impacts
Decrease in industrial water
water supply for 1. low-value added industries

2. water-consuming industries

For example, bleaching & dyeing, paper-making

industry, textile & clothing

Daily operation is disrupted

Hinder industrial production
income for both the industry and the

government

Social impacts
Import of water decreases
Import water from Dong Jiang
If river is polluted, in water import

Drinkable water
2004 only 1/3 cities in PRD had an

adequate water supply

Supply of water water bills/
expenditure

Affect human health

HK imports tonnes of agricultural produce from

PRD every day

Water and soil pollution food safety problem
affect our health

Environmental impacts
Eutrophication Destroying ecosystem
Nutrient increases Algal bloom Dissolved

Oxygen level
form anaerobic condition marine life suffocate

loss of biodiversity

Eutrophication Human losses

Polluted water sources drinkable water
Loss of income : e.g. fishing industry

Food chain effect

Biological magnification
Pollutants flow from 1 trophic level to another in the

food chain

Threatened the ecosystem

Contaminated river = contains toxic chemicals +

heavy
metals
Accumulated in marine life cause diseases fish
die

Sewerage Master Plans

(SMPs)

provide a blueprint
of the sewage
infrastructure
required to collect
sewage on a
catchment-bycatchment basis
and direct it to
treatment
facilities.

1. Sewage Charge
2. Trade Effluent Surcharge

1. SC is levied on all water users whose premises

are connected to public sewers

The amount is calculated according to a

prescribed unit rate and the volume of water

supplied to the premises
(other than that supplied specifically for flushing
purposes).

2. TES is the additional charge on top of SC

for the cost incurred in treating effluents of
strength typically stronger than domestic sewage

The Harbour Area Treatment

Scheme (HATS)
1. Sewage collection

2. Sewage treatment
3. Sewage disposal strategy

Stonecutters Island Sewage

Treatment Works

Chromium pollution in Pearl

River
Delta

21st August 2011

cancer-causing chemicals, chromium( )
dumped near a waterway in Yunnan Province
( )
Nanpan River( ), which is upstream of
the Pearl River system
The source of pollution is more than 2,000
kilometres upstream from the mouth of the
Pearl River.

Solid Waste
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) =

Integrated waste mainly from city

Sources: domestic, industrial, commercial,
construction
MSW excludes construction waste
In 2009, HK produced 13000 tons of
MSW and construction waste every day

Main causes in HK
1. Household source

(Newspaper, plastic lunch box, furniture)

2. Industrial source

(Clay and ash, toxic chemicals, metal, glass)

3. Agricultural source

(Untreated livestock waste)

Disposal of solid waste at

landfills in 2010

1. Increasing population
In 2008, the per capita disposal rate of

municipal solid waste was 1.35 kg per day.

HK population : 7,108,100 in 2010
Only 35% of Hong Kongs domestic waste is

recycled
Landfills under great pressure

2. Urbanization
Higher living standard more willing to buy
To attract customers, producers tend to place

much emphasis on packaging

Increase usage of paper, cardboard, plastic, etc.

3. Industrialization
Improved production method
Productivity increased
Technological advanced
New products are introduced more

frequently esp. the E-products

More e-waste is produced
More than 70,000 tones e-waste per year
Less then 2% is properly recycled and treated

Effect on Health
Higher risk of respiratory problems
Breathing

in polluted dust or particles

Risk of causing cancer and skin diseases

the

leakage of toxic chemical of solid waste like lead

Eating fruits and vegetables that have been grown
in polluted soil
the poisoned soil will come into contact with the
skin
Chemical poisoning

Effect on Health
A breeding ground for disease
Create conditions favourable to the survival and
growth of microbial pathogens when wastes
ferment ( )
Direct handling of solid waste can result in
various types of infectious and chronic

diseases with the waste workers being the most

vulnerable

Hygienic problems as the smell attract the flies,

mosquitoes and rats

Effect on Living Standard

Visual pollution
Ruin the beautiful scenery in the countryside

Noise and Air Pollution

many heavy-duty vehicles moving in and out

Bad smell of solid waste

disturbe nearby residents
for example, the residents of Lohas Park ( )

always complain the smell come from the landfill

site in Tsuen Kwan O

Effect on
Society(Environment)
Contamination of our environment
Mainly

caused by toxic chemicals

Heavy metals in batteries, the chemicals in household
cleaning
Especially E-waste contains dangerous heavy metals
(such as lead and mercury)
Leach into the ground
Poison the soil and the water nearby

For example, leakage of impermeable liner in

landfill will cause the chemicals leakage and soil

contamination

Water pollution
Runoff

from landfills
Seepage from landfills into groundwater sources

Ecosystem and food chain is upset

Caused by water pollution
Mercury accumulates in the tissues of animals
up the food chain until it reaches toxic levels in
large fish such as tuna and swordfish
Roots of vegetation is poisoned and plants are
killed by methane production
(**Decomposing organic material in solid waste
can create methane, an explosive gas that
contributes 25 times more than carbon dioxide
per ton to global warming)

Solid waste pollution

Landfill
it is one of the oldest waste treatment
it disposes waste by buried

Steps
1)Weight collection vehicles collect waste from the city
2) Waste Collection Vehicle is Weighed at Weighbridge on
Arrival
3) Waste Truck Unloads at the Tipping Face
4) The Vehicle Passes the Vehicle-Wash System after
Unloading
5) The Vehicle is Weighed at Weighbridge on Departure

Advantages
matters deposited in the landfill are

degraded naturally
it is more economical as the operating

cost is lower and the procedures are

simple

Disadvantages
Large scale deforestation is needed
the landfill pollutes the environment and destroys the

ecosystem
some waste include toxic materials and these toxic substance

may leak into soil

polluted water will leaked into soil
the landfill has certain life expectancy
Restriction to the land use development on the used landfill

site
Buildings cannot be erected in at least 20 years
serious pollution to the surrounding environment e.g. noise

and air pollution

Case in Hong Kong

850

( )

Incineration

It is a kind of Thermal waste treatment

It involve combustion of organic substance of solid waste
Advantages:
- it is possible to recycle the heat energy to generate

renewable electricity
-it can reduce the volume of the solid waste to 10% of the
orginal size
-lengthen the life of landfill
-It can decompose the part of the toxic materials into CO2
- limited space is used

Incineration
Disadvantages

it is possible to release toxic materials and carcinogen,

especially when there are operating problems of the

incinerators
heavy metal, dioxins and so on
it will seriously hinder the health of nearby residents
hinder the natural scenery
the remaining ashes of the wastes will release more toxic
substance than the ashes
large scale release of CO2 which will speed up the
greenhouse effect
Because of the higher toxic content , the cost of the
waste treatment will be much higher, for around 8 times

Example
The Hong Kong government planned to set up an incinerator

in Shek Kwa Chau to solve the rising solid waste problem

it will combust around 3000 tonnes of solid waste per day
the heat it released will be used to generate electricity of
100 thousand household

Incinerator planned in Shek Kwu Chau

Education

Advantages

to encourage the 4R, Recycle, Reuse, Reduce,

Replace

to save energy for treating the wastes

to reduce the emission of toxic and greenhouse

gases during waste treatment

to conserve the natural resources
it is the minimum cost for solid waste disposal
it will promote the local economy by developing
the recycling industry
it can save the space for the solid waste
treatment plants and the landfill so reduce the
landuse conflict
more job opportunities can be provided by the
recycling industry ,esp. for the low skilled labour

Disadvantages
possible pollution to the surrounding environment
accumulation of wastes
possible release of toxic substance during the

recycle
BFRs from the electronic devices like the LED
monitors from different manufactures like HP, IBM
and so on is easily found from the recycling areas.
It will damage the brain development and IQ of human

local recycling may not be economical

special technology is needed for some recycling
high labour cost, high land rent, insufficient supply

of the recyclable materials

the Recycling industry may still require additional

spaces

Example: Hong Kong

EcoPark
Aim: to promote the local recycling and environmental
industry
provide lower land rent to the recycling industries
Infrastructures are provided e.g. private pier ,
managing service
Build-in environmental protection measures can reduce
the production cost of operators

Phase 1&2 of EcoPark