The Cane Garden Bay Sewerage Project is expected to start in the third quarter of this year and completed before the year 2018 ends. Photo: VINO

Technical Consultant for the Water and Sewerage Department Mr Walton Keith Smith addresses the public meeting at the Cane Garden Bay Methodist Church on January 25, 2018. Photo: VINO

Second District Representative Hon Melvin M. Turnbull, left, makes a point at the public meeting at the Cane Garden Bay Methodist Church on January 25, 2018. Standing right is Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications and Works Mr Jeremy W. Hodge. Photo: VINO

Coordinator for the National Water and Sewerage Upgrade Project Mr Andy O. Phillip makes his presentation on the proposed Sewerage Project in Cane Garden Bay. Photo: VINO

The existing Cane Garden Bay Sewerage Plant was damaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017. Photo: VINO

This was announced at a public meeting at the Cane Garden Bay Methodist Church on January 26, 2018. The main presenters were Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications and Works Mr Jeremy W. Hodge, Coordinator for the National Water and Sewerage Upgrade Project Mr Andy O. Phillip, and Technical Consultant for the Water and Sewerage Department Mr Walton Keith Smith. The consultative session was chaired by Second District Representative Hon Melvin M. Turnbull.

The new sewerage system is estimated to cost $1.5M to about $1.6M and it was noted that after input from residents and results of environmental impact assessments, additional expenses may be incurred.

Old system has become inefficient

Residents were told that the existing sewerage system has some 35 pump stations, along with manholes, pressure mains and a treatment plant, which had the capacity to handle some 32, 000 gallons of sewage per day. The already ailing system was damaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria and Government is in the process of “retrofitting” the existing system to get it up to about 50-60% capacity. The sea outfall is about 700 feet from the coastline.

According to Mr Phillip, the old system has many moving parts, which has a high demand for electricity and makes it costly. This is in addition to the system becoming inefficient due to the increased demands over the years. “Inefficiency means it is using more electricity to do even less work. That is the situation where we are right now.”

It was also disclosed that the recent failure of the lift stations due to the hurricanes has resulted in daily pumping of sewage using sewerage trucks and that now is incurring an additional cost.

Frequent power outages also create the risk of overflowing of sewage due to the system of so many pumps.

“Without the plant working at a tertiary level which is required when doing sea outfall, the effluent would not be properly treated. This is one of the contributing factors to the water quality issues that we have in the Cane Garden Bay area. And I am saying one because there might be other contributing factors that may not be addressed by the sewage treatment plant.”

New system

The proposed sewerage system, according to the presenters, will double the capacity of the existing plant while consisting of fewer pump stations. “What we will be doing is collecting sewage in various areas, get [it] to the low point and then pump it to the next section where we collect sewage again and then pump it until we get to the treatment plant,” Mr Phillip said.

He added that due to the terrain of the Cane Garden Bay area, only 7 pump stations would be required for the new system.

There will be 12-inch gravity mains that will have enough capacity to ensure that the waste water and sewage flow into the manholes and into the pump stations without any hindrances and blockages. Six-inch pressure mains will be used for each segment of the pumping lines.

The long term solution, according to Mr Phillip, is to have a tertiary level waste water treatment plant that would be able to treat the full sewage flows from the community at a quality that would meet World Health Organisation (WHO) standards and that would be safe to release into the outfall. “So that the quality on the beach for bathing, recreation, fishing and everything would not be impacted.”

Mr Phillip said they were confident what is being proposed so far is very feasible but want to get the designs as well as other factors right before presenting the final proposal to the relevant ministers for their approval.

The project, which will be funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), is expected to start in the third quarter of 2018 and completed before the year is out, according to Mr Hodge, who said an earlier start is possible.

It was said that local contractors could bid to undertake the project when it goes out to tender.

Would this be a start & stop project?

One resident wanted to know whether the project would be another incomplete project, while another person supported his concerns, stating that it is a known fact that projects are usually stopped or held up whenever Government changes in the Virgin Islands.

“What I noticed about Government projects is they start and they stop at the middle and then they go dead. So I hope this is not one of the projects that would start and stop,” a resident stated.

“No, this will be completed and done properly, hence the time we are taking to make sure everything is taken into consideration,” Mr Hodge responded.

The resident further said he appreciated the idea of doing the new sewerage system properly but “that is one of my main concern. That it is not stopped in the middle. I know what I am talking about because I have been on several Government projects, and it’s like when you out a fire under a pot…What I have heard sounds good but I like to see action.”

“And you will get action,” Mr Hodge replied.