Water

Water resources at HKUST come from two main sources: portable water and seawater. Portable water is clean and drinkable. It is supplied by the Hong Kong Water Supplies Department and is used for cooking, cleaning, showers, and drinking. On the other hand, our toilets use seawater from the Clear Water Bay. Using seawater for toilets helps conserve the precious fresh water we need for all other uses. Rainwater reuse is adopted in the Jockey Club Global Graduate Tower for irrigation and cooling tower bleed-off at the library is reused for flushing. Total potable water consumption reached 508,004 cubic meters (m3), or 508 million liters, which is equivalent to 202 Olympic sized swimming pools. It increased by 34.50% compared to 2021-22 and increased by 25.08% compared to the base year (2014-2015). Annual cooling tower bleed-off reuse in 2021 was 16,366m3 and in 2022 was 8724m3.

 

2022-23 total water consumption was 507,161m3, a 35% increase over 2011-22 water consumption of 376,773m3.  The water consumption per person in 2022-23 was 23.8m3, representing a 30% increase compared to the previous year, and an overall decrease of 4.2% compared to the base year (2014-15). The Main Academic Building, Student Housing, Canteens & Commercial Outlets accounted for 36%, 23%, and 21% of total potable water consumption respectively in 2022-23.

Water Consumption 2022-23

TOTAL = 508,004 CUBIC METER