The drinking water of Hong Kong people mainly comes from the Dongjiang water, which is diverted to Hong Kong through the Dongshen Water Supply Project.

The Dongshen Water Supply Project is a large-scale cross-basin water diversion project that provides raw water to Hong Kong, Shenzhen and eight towns in Dongguan along the project line. The project is responsible for the living and production water for more than 24 million residents in the three places, and provides Hong Kong with It has made important contributions to the prosperity and stability and the accelerated development of Shenzhen-Dongguan area, and is known as "water of life, political water and economic water".

According to reports, the original intention of the construction of the Dongshen Water Supply Project was to solve Hong Kong’s water difficulties. In 1963, Hong Kong suffered from a severe drought. The government rented a cruise ship to pump fresh water from the Pearl River Estuary and restricted water supply to citizens. Water supply was provided once every four days for four hours each time. The lives of the 3.5 million citizens in Hong Kong were in trouble. Hong Kong's water shortage attracted great national attention. At the end of 1963, Premier Zhou Enlai personally gave instructions for the construction of the Dongshen Water Supply Project to alleviate Hong Kong's water difficulties.

After four large-scale expansions and renovations, the Dongshen Water Supply Project currently has a designed flow rate of 100 cubic meters per second and a designed annual water supply capacity of 2.423 billion cubic meters. The project starts from Qiaotou Town, Dongguan in the north, with a total length of 68 kilometers. Four pumping stations will gradually raise the water level by 46 meters, then input it into the Shenzhen Reservoir, and finally send it to Hong Kong through a water pipeline.

Hong Kong and Guangdong signed a new agreement on Dongjiang water supply from 2018 to 2020 on December 14, 2017, ensuring that Hong Kong has a stable supply of Dongjiang water.

The agreement was signed in Hong Kong by the Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Mr Wong Wai-lun, and the Director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Water Resources, Xu Yongqiang. It will ensure that Hong Kong will have a stable, flexible and practical supply of Dongjiang water until 2020, ensuring water supply. Even if it suffers a once-in-a-century drought, it will not be affected.

According to the new agreement, water prices will increase by 0.3% annually. This increase reflects changes in the relevant consumer price index in Guangdong and Hong Kong and the exchange rate of the RMB against the Hong Kong dollar. According to the existing water supply agreement, Guangdong will maintain the quality of the Dongjiang water transported to Hong Kong to meet the highest national standards for surface water used for daily drinking.

Extended information:

Hong Kong and Guangdong signed a new agreement on Dongjiang water supply from 2018 to 2020 on December 14, 2017, ensuring that Hong Kong has a stable supply of Dongjiang water.

The agreement was signed in Hong Kong by the Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Mr Wong Wai-lun, and the Director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Water Resources, Xu Yongqiang. It will ensure that Hong Kong will have a stable, flexible and practical supply of Dongjiang water until 2020, ensuring water supply. Even if it suffers a once-in-a-century drought, it will not be affected.

According to the new agreement, water prices will increase by 0.3% annually. This increase reflects changes in the relevant consumer price index in Guangdong and Hong Kong and the exchange rate of the RMB against the Hong Kong dollar. According to the existing water supply agreement, Guangdong will maintain the quality of the Dongjiang water transported to Hong Kong to meet the highest national standards for daily drinking surface water.

Xinhuanet - Hong Kong and Guangdong signed a water supply agreement to ensure a stable supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong

People's Daily Online - 78% of Hong Kong's water supply in the past 20 years has come from the Dongshen Water Supply Project