Victoria Harbour

"Protecting the World's Busiest Port"

Can Victoria Harbour — the world's busiest deep-water port — ensure its long-term environmental health?

That's been MWH's priority in a multi-decade sewer treatment and disposal project for the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The Chinese government is eager to protect this important natural asset.

For nearly two centuries, Victoria Harbour has represented the heart of Hong Kong's bustling economy. Located on China's southeastern coastline at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta, the harbour is the point of departure for nearly half the region's substantial exports. More than 10,000 watercraft travel through its waters each day.

First Phase

Working in partnership with Hong Kong officials, MWH recently completed Stage I of a complex project that will significantly improve the harbour's water quality.

For the initial phase of this ambitious project, MWH designed, built and commissioned:

• A 23.3 kilometer deep-tunnel sewage conveyance system
• A chemically enhanced primary treatment works capable of serving 3.5 million people
• A 1.6 kilometer outfall tunnel that passes 90 meters below one of the harbour's key shipping lanes

This world-class project presented several design and construction challenges. For example, MWH constructed conveyance tunnels that extended 150 meters underground in some places. These passed beneath some of the region's busiest industrial and residential areas.

MWH also modernized seven existing preliminary treatment works without interrupting the utility's operations.

The STAGE I system will intercept 70 percent of the previously untreated sewage into the busy waters of Victoria Harbour.

Already, the MWH project has delivered improvements that will benefit Hong Kong for generations to come.