Pollution in Victoria Harbour

S

spockey

Registered User
I read an article today on the Australian News Network reporting that they've had to cut out a scene from the new Batman movie meant to take place at Victoria Harbour.
Found it both amusing and disturbing...

"But when they checked a water sample, they found all sorts of things - salmonella and tuberculosis - so it was cancelled. Now the action will cut to inside a building."

The full article can be found here:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/04/2081285.htm?section=entertainment

When i think of water pollution, mercury levels usually comes to my mind... never did I imagine that I should have to worry about salmonella and tuberculosis! This, for me, takes pollution to a new level in HK. How tragic for such a beautiful host city.
 
The same article was in the South China Morning Post yesterday.

I was also shocked to read there were traces of salmonella and tuberculosis in the harbour! :eek:
 
I've heard that everything gets dumped into the harbour.....

On another note, just saw an ad for investing/living in HK on NBSC. It made me laugh. Beautiful obviously touched up (photoshop that is), clear blue skies of the harbour (like we didn't even see over Summer), pristine blue water beaches with untouched sand. Isn't that false advertising? :)
 
I am not surprised about the pollution/bacteria and disease in the harbour, given what comes down in the water from the Pearl River Delta, which is only polluted further in HK. It is also common for diseases/bacteria such as salmonella to live in water worldwide. The 'colour' of the water is unnatural enough to guess that is unclean and harbouring germs etc.
In Singapore the water on the beach just opposite the port is sparkling clear.
I wonder if the beaches on the Southside are any cleaner? I guess not given the recent red algae in June at Repulse Bay (aka Repulsive Bay).
 
Makes you wonder about all those guys fishing in the harbor. You'd think fishermen would be able to spot dirty water, but I guess not.
 
Pollution in the harbor? Well it's better than it used to be! Really.

Major problem other than the heavy metals would be fecal matter (measured by e-coli counts). This has improved since the Stonecutter's Island sewage processing plant got going.

If you go here on the EPD website, you can check various parts of the Harbour for different water quality measurements.

Present:
http://epic.epd.gov.hk/ca/uid/marinerecent/p/1

Past:
http://epic.epd.gov.hk/ca/uid/marinehistorical/p/1

The SCMP used to publish the water quality ratings of all gazetted beaches every day in the weather section (the one that's now full of world weather). The ratings are "good" "fair" "poor" and "very poor".

You can now view that here:
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/water/beach_quality/bwq_current.html

What about other large cities across the world? Is it safe to go swimming in the Seine off of Pont Neuf? Do people working in The City go for dips in the Thames near their work place?

The pollution in the Harbour doesn't shock me that much. I grew up in Boston, Massachusetts in the 1970s and 1980s. Boston Harbor and the Charles River were well known for being extremely polluted - nothing you'd want to go swimming in.


In 1966 a local Boston band had a local hit which has become almost a theme song for Boston. According to the wikipedia, The Boston Red Sox (a baseball team) and the Boston Bruins (ice hockey) play it after home victories.

"I Love that Dirty Water"

The opening:
"(Spoken:)
I'm gonna tell you a story
I'm gonna tell you about my town
I'm gonna tell you a big bad story, baby
Aww, it's all about my town

Yeah, down by the river
Down by the banks of the river Charles (aw, that's what's happenin' baby)
That's where you'll find me
Along with lovers, fuggers, and thieves (aw, but they're cool people)

Well I love that dirty water
Oh, Boston, you're my home (oh, you're the Number One place)"

At least we don't have to contend w/ the muggers and thieves. :)

Maybe I need to adapt the lyrics to my new home.

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/feverpitch/dirtywater.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Water

So, improvement has been made, and I hope it will continue to get better. The Charles River is much better than when I was a girl and Boston Harbor has improved as well. I hope that Hong Kong will follow a similar path.
 
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