Engineers Without Borders Hong Kong - EWB Toi Island Feasibility Report Final... · on this project. The renovation of ... e.g. microwave oven, refrigerator and air-conditioner, which

Engineers Without Borders – Hong Kong

Humanitarian Engineering Challenge

Po Toi Island Feasibility Study Report

Written and led by: Cris Liu

Members: SC Mok, Siu Hoi Lee, Derek Wong, Manuel Kwong, Michael Li

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Abstract

Po Toi feasibility study was initiated to study the potential to locally deploy our rocket stoves

and identify what we could offer to improve their lives on Po Toi Island. Po Toi is one of the

few outlying islands in Hong Kong with permanent residents but still not covered by the public

supply of electricity and water. We were introduced to the Po Toi Concern Group and made 4

visits to the island during Dec 2015 to May 2016. A total of 4 households currently using wood

burning stoves were identified as the receivers of our rocket stoves. Board of Directors have

approved on the budget of materials for the fabrication of 4 rocket stoves, which will be later

delivered and followed up for the next few months. Secondly, the only indoor communal area

on the island the Po Toi Village Office, was built over 40 years ago, requires repair, rewiring

and painting. Detailed documents on the cost and materials needed for the renovation of village

office has been sent to Po Toi Concern Group, which they will be the employer of the workers

on this project. The renovation of village office will be started once the cost and labor insurance

are resolved.

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Contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4

1.1 Purpose ........................................................................................................................ 4

1.2 Project History............................................................................................................. 4

1.3 Objectives .................................................................................................................... 4

2 General Information of Po Toi Island ................................................................................. 5

2.1 History and Demography ............................................................................................ 5

2.2 Geology and Geographical Information ...................................................................... 6

2.3 Infrastructure ............................................................................................................... 7

2.4 Current Operations ...................................................................................................... 8

3 Field Trips........................................................................................................................... 9

4 Recommendations and Conclusions ................................................................................. 13

Appendix 1 ............................................................................................................................... 14

Appendix 2 ............................................................................................................................... 15

Appendix 3 ............................................................................................................................... 16

Appendix 4 ............................................................................................................................... 22

Appendix 5 ............................................................................................................................... 28

Appendix 6 ............................................................................................................................... 30

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1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose

To evaluate the feasibility to deploy HEC rocket stove to replace islanders’ current

wood burning stoves

To investigate islanders current living conditions without the mainland supply of water

and electricity and determine what HEC can help and advise on these problems

1.2 Project History

In the 2015 August EWB-HK Council and committee head retreat, the idea of having a

humanitarian engineering project serving a local community was raised. Then through a RTHK

programme, we learned that the elderly people living in Po Toi Island still face inadequate

electricity and water supply. With electricity only provided in night time and insufficient power

for many cooking appliances, people resort to gas stoves and wood burning stoves. This

phenomenon let us realize that clean cooking solutions that the Humanitarian Engineering

Challenge team has been working on following the United Nations Clean Cookstoves initiative

(www.cleancookstoves.org) can also benefit local communities.

However, we would like to work with people in Po Toi Island to tackle issues they face

and do not want to be a hammer looking for nails to hit. The Po Toi feasibility studies

committee was formed to review the living condition, problems people face, and identify the

works EWB-HK can do to serve this community in Po Toi Island.

1.3 Objectives

Clean cook stoves have been setup as the main focus of HEC since we were established in

2013. Due to the growing publicity of the living challenges faced by Po Toi islanders reported

on newspaper and TV, we learnt that it could be a potential local deployment site where we

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could easily deliver and receive feedback regarding our rocket stove. In addition, we would

also like to see if there were other engineering related problems on the island we might help or

provide advice to the islanders.

2 General Information of Po Toi Island

2.1 History and Demography

The early history and information of the inhabitants of Po Toi Island, unlike other regions of

Hong Kong, have not been well documented. The earliest record of civilization on Po Toi

Island is rock carvings on a cliff of Nam Tum with over 3000 years of history. This prehistoric

totem becomes a Declared Monument in 1979, but little is known about the meaning, font and

history of the carving and it still remains a mystery in Hong Kong history. The oldest

architecture on the island is Tin Hau Temple which was built in the Qing Dynasty; there was a

bronze bell in the temple cast date back to 1835, so the temple was believed to be over 180

years old.

The Chinese name of Po Toi Island is 蒲台島. There are two legends about the origin

of the name of Po Toi Island. It was originally named as 蒲苔島 instead as seaweeds (海苔/

紫菜) were once the main produce of the island. Another belief of the name is that this island

looks like a floating raft (浮台) on the sea while “蒲” in Boat Dwellers language is pronounced

as the word floating.

Contrary to public belief, there were not only Boat Dwellers living on the island by the

coastal lines but also some farmers living on the inland. The island once had a population of

over 2000 fishermen and farmers back in 1950s with the fishermen living on the boats or shack

houses (棚屋) while the farmers living on brick/stone houses. With the large population on Po

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Toi at that time, the only public school named Po Toi School was founded ~ 1960 providing

primary education for the children on the island; the school was closed in 1988. Due to a

decrease in fish catch in the last few decades along with the development of public housing by

the government in 1980s, a lot of islanders, especially the younger generations, moved onshore

mostly residing in Aberdeen. According to 2011 census, the population on Po Toi Island is

reported to be 50, but nowadays there are less than 20 permanent residents living on the island

by the bay of Tai Wan and Wan Tsai. Most of the islanders (a few thousands), who moved

onshore, only return to the island a few times each year, especially on Tin Hua’s birthday which

is on the 23rd day of the 3rd month in the Lunar Calendar. In addition, due to its popularity on

the media about the heritage, rocks, landscape and ecological value, there are usually as many

as 2000 tourists on the island in the weekends.

2.2 Geology and Geographical Information

Po Toi Island is the southernmost island of Hong Kong with an area of 3.69 km2 (shown in

Figure 1). The highest elevation of the island is Tung Tau Teng at an altitude of 242 m. The

rocks of Po Toi Island are mainly granite. On the basis of geochemistry, the granite is believed

to be the same age of about 140 million years (early cretaceous) as granite exposed on Stanley

Peninsula and classified as Lion Rock Suite. The plants on the island belong to the tropical

moist broadleaf forest (熱帶季風常綠闊葉林) category.

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Figure 1. A map of Po Toi Island.

Source: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/see-do/great-outdoors/hikes/po-toi-island.jsp

2.3 Infrastructure

Po Toi is one of the few outlying islands in Hong Kong with permanent residents, but it is still

not covered by the public supply of electricity and water. The first concrete pier of the island

was built by British Army and university students back in the 1980s by the Tai Wan area. The

currently in use public pier in Wan Tsai was built in 1992 with the funds from Hong Kong

Jockey Club. The only way to travel Po Toi Island to the outside is by the ferry service run by

Tsui Wah Ferry Service (HK) Limited between Po Toi to Aberdeen and Stanley. The ferry

service is infrequently scheduled running only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and

Sundays. Due to the growing popularity of the natural environment of Po Toi Island among

hikers, a concrete trail of about 4 km was built on the island.

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2.4 Current Operations

Due to the lack of power and water supply from the government and other utility companies,

the people on the island still live their lives like 40-50 years ago. There is a water reservoir on

the island and connected to a water pipe network to individual households; however, no regular

cleansing of the reservoir and water quality check are provided by the Water Supplies

Department. In addition, the water storage provided by this reservoir is not enough in the dry

season, especially with more and more tourists going to the island in the past few years. Three

plastic water tanks (as shown in Figure 2) were installed by the government on the island with

a capacity of 1500 L each for storage of drinking water. The water tanks are all located at the

Tai Wan area, so all the islanders need to travel a distance, up and down on sloping walk, to

bring the water back to their houses. Water in these water tanks can be refilled upon request,

mainly during the dry reason, by the islanders; however, some islanders are concerned of the

water quality as it is being keep still for weeks to months. In addition, they also complain that

the water has a salty taste due to the possible contamination with sea water during transport.

Po Toi Island relies on diesel fuel to generate electricity. There are two diesel power generators

provided by the government but one has broken down, so the power supply on the island,

including street lighting and households, can only rely on the remaining generator. The

maintenance of the power generator is serviced by the Electrical and Mechanical Services

Department, but the cost and transport of the diesel are all supported by the islanders

themselves. As a result, to reduce the cost and loading of the electricity supply, the generator

is only turned on from 6pm to 6am everyday. Electricity is distributed to the populated area

through the street lighting, two households are supplied by each street light (as shown in Figure

3). Since the wires from the street lightings to the households are under self-maintenance and

some areas are higher populated than the other areas, the more populated area near Tai Wan

often face power tripping problem. In addition, the earth leakage circuit breaker also trip

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frequency, affecting the whole island. Based on the limited power supply and instability of it,

the islanders can only use some basic electrical appliances at home but cannot afford to use

appliances, e.g. microwave oven, refrigerator and air-conditioner, which are common to most

Hong Kong households nowadays. The most common cooking methods on the island are

burning wood and LPG. Wood is a relatively easy to find natural resource on the island, but

this cooking method is time-consuming and low efficiency; thus, this is more often used for

simmering Chinese soups for household consumption or simmering dessert soups or herbal

teas for sale during weekends. LPG is more commonly used on daily basis for cooking an easy

meal for the islanders. LPG is supplied by a vendor outside Po Toi, so the islanders need to

transport it from the pier to their houses by themselves. With added cost of shipping the LPG

bottles to and from the Island, this is an expensive cooking solution.

3 Field Trips

A total of 4 visits to Po Toi Island were made by different members from December 2015 to

May 2016. Since we learnt that Legislator Tang Ka Piu was helping the islanders on their

Figure 2. Water storage tanks located at Tai

Wan. Figure 3. Street light on the island

showing two outlets.

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livelihood issues, we approached Mr. Tang with our intention to visit and contact the islanders

to provide our assistance to them. We were then introduced to Mr. Law Shing, the Chairperson

of Po Toi Island Concern Group, and he has been our contact person for this entire study.

1st Field Trip

Instead of just reading or watching from the news about the problems of the island, we were

able to talk to people and observe the situation of Po Toi Island ourselves during our 1st visit

on 10 Dec 2015. We confirmed the possibility to deploy our rocket stove to the islanders. In

addition, the islanders wanted to renovate their village office (as shown in Figure 4), which

was built by the islanders, The Royal Air Force and the district office (islands) back in 1973,

and would like to see if we could provide any assistance. We brought these issues to the Broad

of Directors meeting and got approved for further assessment on exploring potential stove users

and the condition of the village office.

2nd Field Trip

Figure 4. Po Toi Village Office

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The 2nd visit was held on 28 Feb 2016 with a total of 7 members and friends to collect more

information for later expert assessment. A total of four wood burning stove users showing

interests with our rocket stoves were identified as 坤記, 九叔, 妹婆 (shown in Figure 5) and

耀記. The overall dimensions of the village office are 10.7(L) x 6.15(W) x 3.85(H) m with the

details of other measurements provided in the sketch attached (Appendix 1). There were three

issues of the village office that required attention: 1) spalled ceiling, 2) repainting, 3) storage

shelves for the bulky miscellaneous items in the village office and 4) aging wire, lighting and

fans. A lot of photographs of the village office regarding the above issues were taken for off-

site assessment (Appendix 2), such as the structural safety in particular. In addition, four

islanders (Harky Kwok, 霞姐, 樹哥 and Cheung Wai Ming) were interviewed with a list of

questions regarding their cooking, electricity and water amenities and habits based on a

specially designed resident questionnaire. These questions were critical to truly understand the

needs and challenges they faced living on an isolated island. The English version of the

questionnaire (Appendix 3) together with the results collected (Appendix 4) are attached. Some

of the pictures were sent to Mr. Paul Li for his advice on the overall structure safety.

Figure 5. 妹婆’s clay stove.

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3rd Field Trip

The 3rd visit was held on 15 Mar 2016 led by EWB-HK Chairperson Ms. Susanna Tam together

with Mr. David Chan and Mr. Lam Wai Choi. Mr. Lam performed some assessment on the

spalled regions and the structure of the village office. Considering the building to be relatively

old with little renovation done throughout all these years, the structure was confirmed to be

safe and in good condition suitable for repair and continual public use. Since the roof height of

the village office is over 3 m, elevated working platform will be needed to repair spalled ceiling

and paint elevated regions; these works will have to be performed by professional workers with

corresponding licenses such as Mr. Chan and his team. For the spalled regions, rusting on steel

reinforcement could be clearly seen and needed special treatment during future repair. With

some discussion about the works needed to be done, Mr. Chan has provided a quotation of

HK$51279 (Appendix 5) including the labor cost and a list of the items needed for the spalling

repair, painting and storage shelf making for the village office. Based on the law of Hong Kong,

labor insurance should be provided to the employees by the employer on these works, in which

Board of Directors agreed that the employer should be Po Toi side but not EWB-HK. As a

result, we explained the situation to Po Toi Concern Group about the cost of these three aspects

of works and the major problem about the labor insurance which would need to be solved prior

to further progress of any task in the village office.

4th Field Trip

SC invited Mr. Wong Pak Cheung, who is an experienced electrician course instructor and a

certified electrician himself, to perform the 4th visit on 22 May 2016 to advise on the frequent

power tripping problem of the island and the potential electrical works to be done for the village

office. Regarding the frequent tripping problem of the island, Mr. Wong made a few

recommendations after his investigation on the diesel generator and the electricity distribution

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on the island. In order to make any change to the current power supply model, this should be

done and approved by the government as this is a critical livelihood issue involving the

Electrical and Mechanical Services Department and the Land Department. With our primary

focus on the village office, Mr. Wong suggested that we should replace the wiring and sockets

of the whole building as these all shown the sign of aging. In addition, wall mounted fans were

recommended to replace the old ceiling fans in use. The complete recommendation made by

Mr. Wong is included in this report (Appendix 6).

4 Recommendations and Conclusions

According to the objectives, we could conclude the potential works to be done as rocket stove

and village office separately. Since we identified a group of potential rocket stove users within

Hong Kong for the first time, they could provide us valuable information regarding our design

from the end user’s perspective. Thus, a budget of HK$5000 was requested and approved by

the Board of Directors of EWB-HK to fine tune our basic design and fabricate 4 or more rocket

stoves to these potential users on Po Toi Island as mentioned above. These stoves will be

provided to them for free, and their feedbacks on the stoves will be collected over a period of

time. SC will be in charge of the fabrication (~ July-Aug 2016), delivery and feedback

collection of these stoves with the help of other members. As for the works to be done in the

village office, these have to wait until the labor insurance issue solved by Po Toi Concern

Group first. Regarding the cost of the repair and painting works, Po Toi Concern Group will

be raising money among themselves, a fund raising event among themselves is scheduled in

July in particular. In conclusion, we will proceed the rocket stove deployment soon after this

report was written while the works of village office will be further discussed and planned in

the next few months only if insurance and funding are secured.

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Appendix 1

Sketch of Village Office

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Appendix 2

Photos of Village Office

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Appendix 3

Resident Questionnaire

Engineers Without Borders (Hong Kong)

Humanitarian Engineering Challenge Team

Po Toi Island Feasibility Study

Resident Questionnaire

Name of Surveyor: ______________________

Date of Survey: ___________________________

Household Address: _______________________

Type of Building: 1 /2 /3 storeys

Private toilet/ communal toilet

Estimated size of the house: _________________ft2

Wind speed (please take 3 measurements): ____________________ m/s

Part 1: Household Profile Data

Member Sex Age Frequency of staying

1

2

3

4

Part 2: Cooking amenities and habits

1. How frequent do you cook at home?

A. Once a week B. Twice a week

C. Once a day D. Three times or more a day

2. What kind of cooking device (e.g. stove or rice cooker) is commonly used for:

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Breakfast: Lunch:

Dinner: Others:

3. What is the common place of cooking? A. Open B. Indoor

C. Semi-open

4. What are the types of fuel used?

Fuel Yes/No Quantity and cost per month

Wood

LPG

Kerosene

Others:

5. What is the most important criteria of choosing which type of cooking device to use?

Ans: ________________________________________________________________________

6. During winter, does the household take cold or hot shower?

Cold/ hot, if hot then how is the water heated? _______________________________

7. Do you regularly use a clay stove? (jump to Q.9 if the answer is No) Yes/ No

8. How is the condition of the clay stove? New/ Good condition/ Not working

9. What is the lifespan of a conventional clay stove? 1/ 2/ 5/ 10 yrs

10. Any need of a new wood burning stove? Yes/ No

11. Any interest to try our rocket stove? Yes/ No

Part 3: Water Amenities, Use Behavior and Service Data

1. What is the major source of household water supply and estimated amount (liters) (per week/month)?

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A. Tap water B. Stream/Well water

C. Water from the water tank D. Others:

2. What are the major water using appliances? A. Shower B. Drinking/ Cooking C. Flushing toilet

D. Washing clothes E. Others:

3. What is the major source of household drinking water? A. Tap water B. Stream/ Well water C. Water from the

water tank D. Bottle water E. Rain water F. Others:

4. How much drinking water does your household consume each day? ________ liters

5. If your family drinks bottle water, how much do you pay? HK$________/month

6. How often do household members go out to collect water from the water tank? A. More than once a

day B. Once a day C. Twice a week

D. Once a week E. Once a month F. Others:

7. What is the container (s) and volume (liters) used for water collection?

Ans: _____________________________________________________________________

8. What is the major difficulty/concern the household members experienced during the transportation of water?

Ans: _____________________________________________________________________

9. Do you collect rain water as an alternative water source? If yes, what is the volume

of the container?

Ans: _____________________________________________________________________

10. In a typical week, what is the frequency does household do laundry? Hand/ Machine wash

A. Everyday B. Twice a week

C. Once a week D. Others

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11. How would you rate the current water supply by the mean of water tanks?

Excellent Very Good Good Poor Very bad

Purity

Color

Taste

Smell

12. How often do you experience water shortage? A. Never B. Once a day C. Twice a week

D. Once a week E. Once a month F. Once a quarter or less

13. What is the water-saving measure used by the household?

Ans: __________________________________________________________________

14. How would you rate the existing water supply service?

Excellent Very Good Good Bad Very bad

Why? _________________________________________________________________

15. Which of the following aspects of your water supply do need improvement in the future?

A. Water quality B. Pressure C. Reliability

D. Service quality E. Maintenance F. Others:

16. Which one of the above aspects do you think should be improved right away? A. Water quality B. Pressure C. Reliability

D. Service quality E. Maintenance F. Others:

Part 4: Electrical Amenities, Use Behavior and Service Data

1. Which of the following electrical appliances do you have? A. Lights (No.: ) B. Electric stove

C. Rice cooker/ Microwave oven/ electric kettle/ toaster

D. Refrigerator

E. TV F. Radio/ stereo equipment

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G. Fan H. Washing machines

I. Air-conditioner J. Others:

2. Which three items above do you use most during summer? ______________________

3. Which three items above do you use most during winter? ________________________

4. How much is your electricity bill each month on average? HK$________

5. How much did you pay with the highest electricity bill you have ever had? HK$________

6. Is there any electrical appliance you want to have but not supported by current electricity supply? If yes, please list it (them) out: _______________________________________________

7. What is the biggest inconvenience of not having electricity during daytime and blackout? Ans: ____________________________________________________________________

8. How often do you experience a blackout? A. More than once a

day B. Once a day C. Twice a week

D. Once a week E. Once a month F. Others:

9. What time of the day is the blackout usually happened? A. 6pm-8pm B. 8pm-10pm C. 10pm-12am

D. 12am-2am E. 2am-4am F. 4am-7am

10. Do you have any renewable energy powered appliances at home?

If yes, please list it (them) out: ____________________________________________

11. Are there sufficient outdoor lights? Any interest of a solar-powered LED outdoor light? Sufficient/ Insufficient outdoor light; any need of LED outdoor light, YES/ NO

Part 5: Village Office Usage and Development 1. Do you consider the village office to be an important facility for the village? Yes/

No

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2. Have you made use of the village office in the last 12 months? Yes/ No

If yes, please give details of the event attended: _______________________________

3. Did the office meet your expectations on that occasion(s)? Yes/ No/ Not Applicable

4. If it did not meet your expectations can you please explain why? A. Temperature B. Lighting

C. Cleanliness D. Seating

E. Others:

5. What improvements to the office would encourage you to make more use of it? A. Renovate, repair and

paint B. Internal layout

rearrangement C. More seating area

D. Repair and improve lighting

E. Interior beautification

F. Others:

Part 6: Other Miscellaneous Items 1. Are you happy with the current living conditions on the island?

Exuberant Joyful Satisfied Unhappy Sad

2. What is the most immediate concern you may have but not addressed above?

Ans: __________________________________________________________________

3. Is there any communication device among the villagers for daily communication and emergency? Yes/ No; If yes, what is it? ______________________________________________

4. How long does it usually take for the Government Flying Service to arrive the island in case of emergency? Ans: _____ minutes

5. What is the biggest inconvenience caused by the tourists in your everyday life?

Ans.: ___________________________________________________________________

This is the end of the questionnaire. Thank you very much!

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Appendix 4

Questionnaire results

蒲台島可行性研究

島上居民調查問卷

Recorded by Cris

1 2 3 4

Household Address

Harky Kwok (九叔

store) Har Jae (坤記 store) Shu Gor Cheung Wai Ming

Type of Building 2 storeys 2 storeys 2 storeys 1 storey

Toilet (private only for small business) Yes Yes No Yes

Estimated size (sq feet) 300 400 300 250-300 (2 houses)

Part 1: household profile data

no. of members 4 1 1 2

gender 2F2M F M 1M1F

age 50 60 60 M (50) and F (80)

frequency of staying 2 days 5 days 7 days 3 days

Part 2: Cooking amenities and habits

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1 frequency of cooking at home Once a week once to twice a day twice a week three times a day

2 cooking device LPG gas/ clay stove for business LPG/wood/charcoal LPG LPG

3 place of cooking outdoor outdoor Indoor indoor

4 fuel used LPG/ wood LPG $150/month LPG $150/month LPG $150/month

5 criteria of choosing cooking device

Duration of time needed, LPG expensive

Duration of time needed, LPG faster

Smoke of burning wood

6 Winter shower habit hot water Hot water even summer Yes, LPG Yes, LPG

7 Clay stove usage yes yes no no

8 Clay stove condition good condition handmade with crack but still using

9 history of claystove 1 yr old

10 Need of clay stove Yes Yes

11 Interest of our rocket stove Yes Yes

Part 3: Water Amenities, Use Behavior and Service Data

1 Main water source and amount used

Tap water from reservoir (400/week) Tap water Tap water Tap water

2 Major water appliances

shower, cooking, drinking, toilet, laundry, plant

Shower, cooking, laundry

Shower, cooking, laundry

shower, cooking, drinking, toilet, laundry

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3 Source of drinking water Tap water Tap water

need to use capt to drinking the water Tap water

4 Drinking water consumed 10L 2L 2L 4L

5 Bottle water (cost per month) $60 $20 $40

6 Frequency to collect household water Once a week

Once a day in dry season

Once a day in dry season

Once a week in dry season

7 Container to carry water

Big blue plastic drum (~200L) Small bucket Small bucket Big blue plastic drum

8 Difficulty in transporting water sloping walk Far and sloping walk

need to use cart to transport the water

Feel water supply is basic human need

9 Rain water No No No No

10 Laundry frequency handwash once a week handwash once a day handwash once a day

handwash twice a week

11 water quality rating of water tank

purity poor poor good poor

color good Very good good poor

taste poor poor poor good

smell poor poor poor (salty) good

12 water shortage seasonal, not a problem lately

none in the past few months

none in the past few months Once a quarter or less

13 water saving measure no no no no

14 rating of water supply service Excellent for tap water Bad for water tank Bad for water tank

Bad because need to wait 3-4 days for the water tank to be filled

25

15 improvement in the future

Tap water is okay but concern about water from the tank

concern of the plastic tank and salty taste Reliability

water quality, service amd reliability

16 immediate improvement

Not pure and has plastic and salty taste of water from the tank

No regular checkup or water test

should have enough water out of the tap

Part 4: Electrical Amenities, Use Behavior and Service Data

1 Electrical appliances light (x6), rice cooker, fridge (x2), TV, fan

light (x6-7), rice cooker, fridge, TV, fan

light (x4-5), rice cooker, fridge, TV, fan

light (x5-6), rice cooker, electric kettle, fridge, TV, fan

2 Frequently used appliances in summer fan and light fan and fridge fan fridge

3 Frequently used appliances in winter light fridge fridge

4 Current electricity bill (per month) $200 $100-200 $100 $100

5 Highest electricity bill $400 $200-300 $300 $400

6 Appliances wanted but not possible now air-conditioner air-conditioner air-conditioner

air-conditioner and computer

7 Inconvenience due to blackout

fridge and cell phone charging dark everywhere fridge fridge

8 Blackout frequency (fuse cutout) none lately once a week once a day if raining, twice a week

9 Time blackout occurs 6-8pm 6-8pm 6-8pm raining

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10 renewable energy no Solar panel for the fridges No No

11 Outdoor lighting sufficient but solar-powered LED is useful

sufficient but solar-powered LED is useful

no door light, solar-powered LED could be nice

sufficient but solar-powered LED is useful

Part 5: Village Office Usage and Development

1 Importance of village office Yes Yes Yes Yes

2 No. of times used in past 12 months 6 times 6 times 2-3 times 10 times

3 Meet expectation No No No No

4 Current problems No electricity, not tidy, old floor work

No electricity so no lighting

Lighting, electricity, seating

Old, untidy, lighting and no electricity

5 Improvement needed

Renovate, repair and paint ; lighting; interior beautification

Renovate, repair and paint; more seating; improve lighting

Renovate, repair and paint; reinstall electricity for light and fan

Best is rebuild; reinstall electricity, renovate, repair and paint; improving lighting; more seating

Part 6: Other Miscellaneous Items

1 Satisfaction of living on the island Exuberant Joyful Exuberant Exuberant

2 Immediate concern Better electricity and water supply

More frequent ferry service and barrier-free path

Trash collection, barrier-free path and public toilet hygiene

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3 Communication device Landline phone Landline phone Landline phone Landline phone

4 Emergency rescue 10 mins less than an hour Police in 20 mins 40 mins

5 Inconvenience caused by tourists

None, tourists become friends and people to talk to No inconvenience

Tourists would share residents' limited resources such as water and public toilet

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Appendix 5

Po Toi Island Village Office Repair Quote

蒲台島村公所維修預算 修改 3 次版

項目 支出項目 數量 單價 銀碼

1 交通準貼每人每天港幣 600 元，，預計 50 工 50 600 30000

2 五星水泥#SP，25KG 15 300 4500

3 米色外牆沙膠漆，20 升裝 5 400 2000

4 2" x 3" x 10' 集木枋 30 90 2700

5 1" x 4" x 8' 集木板 30 50 1500

6 墊地中空膠板 20 10 200

7 2" 尖咀黑螺絲 @500 2 50 100

8 米色內牆沙膠漆，20 升裝 3 400 1200

9 白色內牆沙膠漆，20 升裝 2 400 800

10 牧田牌#D81 打石矢炮仔 1 2070 2070

11 打石矢炮鑿仔(舊)。 6 20 120

12 桶裝批牆灰，20 升裝 2 200 400

29

13 #100 號紅砂紙 10 5 50

14 6"不脫毛排筆 5 30 150

15 8"軟毛油轆連木柄 5 50 250

16 膠油盆 5 50 250

17 3"漆鏟及 8"膠桶及黑泥斗各 4 個 12 20 240

18 1/2" x 4' x 8' /夾板 3 140 420

19 木工白膠漿 2 20 40

20 3"漆鏟及 8"膠桶及黑泥斗各 4 個 12 20 240

21 2"縐紋膠紙 5 15 75

22 預留購買小工具及物料 1 1000 1000

23 11/2" x 2" x 3M 萬能角鐵 30 45 1350

24 元頭萬能角鐵螺絲連介子 4 30 120

25 1/2" x 4' x 8' 單邊黏白色膠板 6 240 1440

26 萬能角鐵膠腳套 16 4 64

以上預算尚未計算電工物料及所需工作天數和交通準貼

等 51279

30

Appendix 6

Recommendation made by Mr. Wong Pak Cheung on the electricity problem

1. According to Government's electrical installation guidelines since 1992, basic lighting

circuit should be separated from other electrical appliances. However, now the street lamps

share circuit with household electricity supply. This should be changed to conform to the

guideline.

1a. After separating lighting circuit from household circuits, it is possible to use a larger

leakage current circuit breaker in the main panel whereas 30mA leakage current circuit

breakers can protect the households separately.

2. A frequent earth leakage tripping is due to wiring to the public toilet. But it seems the only

electricity need there is lighting. A method to fix this is to install a transformer box right next

to the existing one or directly put a 220V-12V transformer inside the existing cabinet.

Subsequent output is safe 12V for use in toilet lighting using LED.

3. There are frequent tripping for the circuit to lamp posts 12-15. There is a 30A overload and

30mA leakage circuit breaker for each circuit. The switching on of appliances in these

households results in increase of about 25A in phase L1 and a short duration of higher current

when air conditioners are turned on. So this is due to overload. However, current in phase L2

and L3 are about or less than 10 A. The generator should be able to provide 40KVA of output

which should support 50A in each phase as a conservative estimate. So there is sufficient

capacity to provide electricity to these households. Additional circuit from another phase to

share the loads in this branch can solve the problem.

4. The wiring of the village office already use double insulated wires although there is

already clear signs of aging. Renewing the wiring inside the office is not complicated as there

are only a few sockets, lamps, and fans. So it is worth doing.

5. Only one fan is functional and it is not easy to purchase ceiling fans and replacement is

inconvenient due to high ceiling. Wall mounted fans can be considered.