Members of the media visited the Relocation of Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works to Caverns project to view its progress and the technology used in its construction on Oct 28, 2021. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

The new plant of the Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works, which will be in caverns in nearby Nui Po Shan, will start operation in 2029, a senior engineer of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said on Thursday.

The whole relocation project, including the demolition of the original plant, will be completed in 2031.

After the project is completed, the facility will be Asia’s largest sewage treatment works in caverns

After the project is completed, the facility will be Asia’s largest sewage treatment works in caverns. The 28-hectare site of the existing plant will be converted into housing and other functions that will improve people’s livelihoods.

The latest development was revealed by Tony Leung Ka-chung, chief engineer (cavern projects) of the Drainage Services Department, during a media briefing.

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Currently, the plant serves a population of 650,000 in the Sha Tin and Ma On Shan districts, which produces 260,000 cubic meters of sewage per day. The government proposed the relocation plan in 2013 to solve Hong Kong’s acute land shortage issue.

Under the relocation project, the whole sewage treatment plant will be put inside 11 caverns and each cavern will serve as a natural barrier fully enclosing the facility.

“It means that odors produced by the plant will be minimized, which will benefit residents living near the plant,” Leung said.

China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) is mainly responsible for the construction of the first two phases of the cavern sewage treatment plant. Phase one work has commenced in February 2019 and targeted for completion in the fourth quarter of 2022.

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China State, together with the Drainage Services Department, and the consultant company made every effort to ensure the project’s safety, environmental protection and sustainable development, said Li Yifeng, China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong)’s senior site manager who is responsible for the project.