Little Drop‛s Distribution Process Water Distribution in the World Worldwide Water Little Drop‛s Marvellous Journey Resource Problems Fresh water accounts for only 2.5% of all the water on Earth; Water Cycle the rest is salt water. 70% of this fresh water is in the form . Number of people without access to improved water of glaciers and snow caps in the poles and mountainous sources: regions. 880 million* . Number of people without access to Water Sources in basic sanitation facilities: 2.5 billion* . More than 10% of people in the When Little Drops heap up, they can no Water Treatment Pumping 1 Rainwater collected in world consume crops irrigated by longer stay in the sky as they are too Works Stations catchment areas wastewater that may contain heavy, they will fall as rain. Those Little Drops which fall onto catchment areas 1 After leaving the water 2 Dongjiang water imported health-hazardous chemicals and will flow into reservoirs. They will be treatment works and with the from Guangdong delivered to water treatment works and help of the pumpsets at the take a thorough bath. The Little Drops pumping stations, 2 will finally become drinking water. Little Water Vapours, will rise . Water scarcity affects both developed to the sky, cling together and 3 Pumping condense into Water Drops. Stations and developing countries. For 2 Little Drops will be pushed to example, water is scarce in the They become thicker and the service reservoirs which are thicker and form clouds. southern and middle western part of big water tanks. Did You Know… the United States. Service Reservoirs There are no sizable lakes or rivers in Hong Kong. There . Water scarcity also affects China. The is also no suitable site for constructing a new large Central Government has spent billions 1 Reservoir impounding reservoir. We have to rely on the Dongjiang to tackle the problem. 3 The Little Drops stay in the Service Reservoirs for about 70% to 80% of Hong Kong water supply. The heat from the sun drives Little service reservoirs for Drop and his friends out of the a few hours before they are The total capacity (586 mcm) of the 17 impounding sea, lakes, rivers, trees and all Water Treatment Works delivered to consumers through reservoirs in Hong Kong is just more than half of the other living things. Little drops will then evaporate and become Little underground pipelines. annual total fresh water consumption. Water is essential for life. While Water Vapour. Consumers The average amount of fresh water used by each resident governments all over the world strive to in Hong Kong (with a population of about 7 million) per day provide adequate supplies of quality water 4 Water Quality Control = 130 one-litre bottles of drinks to their people, we, being the Some of the other Little Drops will go back to the To comply with the World Health Organization (WHO) The average amount of flushing water used by each sea direct or through rivers. Some will seep into the resident in Hong Kong per day = 90 one-litre bottles of consumers, should learn how to ground and some will become the drinks of animals Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, Little Drops have to drinks or plants. go through stringent quality control before they arrive at the save water in our daily life. consumers’ taps. We have qualified chemists to conduct many kinds of tests. Over 170,000 samples in a year will be taken from different intakes, storage reservoirs, water treatment works, service reservoirs, trunk-mains and consumers’ taps for testing. Water is therefore safe to drink.

* Source: UNICEF Website ** Source: WHO Website Water Treatment Process

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Raw Water Clarifier Clarifier Filtration Plant Clear Water Tank Clear Water Tank Clear Water Tank a Little Drops fall into Dongjiang with other rain drops and then are a After taking a big bath in the clarifier, Little Drops march to a However, the Little Drops are a little bit acidic because they have a To make Little Drops cleaner, they will then be dosed with a little transferred from the Guangdong province direct to the water another tank - filtration plant. taken alum when they pass through the clarifier. They can eat bit of chlorine for disinfection. treatment works or impounding reservoirs in Hong Kong. In the into the water pipes and fittings to produce rust as they walk reservoir, they will join and mix with the rainwater. The water is along. b Finally, Little Drops will be added with fluoride which protects people’s teeth. known as raw water because it requires treatment before people Clarifier Filtration Plant can drink it.

Dongjiang Hong Kong’s water reservoir

Water Treatment A little bit acidic Works b In filtration plant, finer dust, dirt and mud inside Little Drops’ bodies are taken away by some very high grade of fine coal, the so-called anthracites. Then, they pass through layers of sands. As of January 2010, there are 17 impounding reservoirs in Hong Kong. b When Little Drops enter into the clarifier at water treatment Sands works, a chemical called alum is added. The small dirt inside Anthracites Clear Water Tank Little Drops’ bodies will then cling to each other to become thick • • Tai Tam Upper Reservoir and solid floc. The dirt from Little Drops will then rest on the floor • • of the clarifier in the form of thick and greasy mud called sludge. Tai Tam Intermediate • Reservoir • • Tai Tam Byewash Reservoir Therefore, another chemical called hydrated lime has to be given • b • Lower Shing Mun Reservoir Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir to the Little Drops for neutralisation. • • Shek Lei Pui Reservoir • Water Treatment Alum is added Dirt becomes thick c Here are the crystal clear Little Drops after they come out of the Works and solid floc filtration plant and go into the clear water tank. • Kowloon Byewash Reservoir There are 20 water The sludge is then collected, thickened and finally compressed • treatment works, too! c Hydrated Lime Kowloon Reception into sludge cakes. They will be taken to landfill sites. Reservoir • Clarifier • Aberdeen Upper Reservoir Sludge • Aberdeen Lower Reservoir

Sludge Pumping Sludge Filter Press Landfill Sites Station Thickening Tank