Water works: Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau visits Shafdan, the Dan region sewage treatment facility in Israel.

Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau has visited leading Israeli environmental and water technology firms to see how Hong Kong can learn from their experience in employing advanced technology in sewage treatment.

Starting his Israeli itinerary today, Mr Yau visited Shafdan - the Dan region sewage treatment facility - where a new system is in the pipeline under which sewage sludge will be converted into organic fertiliser after treatment to benefit Israeli agriculture.

He saw a natural biological system has been developed at Ayala Water & Ecology to treat wastewater and sewage produced by Hiriya refuse site. The reclaimed water produced is suitable for irrigation.

Mr Yau also toured water technology company Aqwise to learn how it develops and implements innovative solutions for industrial and municipal wastewater.

He called on Chinese Ambassador to Israel Zhao Jun and met former Israeli Minister of Justice Dr Yossi Beilin in the afternoon. He talked about Hong Kong's latest environmental policies and initiatives at a dinner hosted by the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce.