Sewage collection service to be updated

Wednesday 25 March 2020

States Works' sewage collection service is going to go through a few changes later this year, particularly the wastewater collections it does from cesspits across the island.

UK consultant Red Quadrant was commissioned to carry out a review of the service and make suggestions on how it could be improved.

One area it prioritised was the collection of wastewater.

At the moment States Works collects sewage from about 5,500 customers, using a fleet of 36 special tankers, under a service level agreement with Guernsey Water. 

While the report found this service is operating well within the customer constraints, it did highlight a number of challenges around data and performance management, IT service delivery and optimisation.

Pictured: UK consultants came up with suggestions on how the service could be improved.

Currently, collections are scheduled according to customer requests. Although States Works can encourage households to adjust their collection, it is currently determined by the service user, based on their assumed needs.

The report suggested this be changed, by gathering more data to record cesspit emptying frequencies, therefore enabling the vehicles to be fully optimised.

To implement this, Guernsey Water - which has overall responsibility for the collection and treatment of wastewater - will implement a new IT system. It will focus primarily on accurate and efficient data collection.

This information will then allow the utilities to review scheduling, taking into account the optimisation of vehicles and using data to inform future service development.

"Although overall findings within the report conclude the service is operating well within the current constraints, we recognise there are improvements and efficiencies that can and should be make," said States Works General Manager, Paul Lickley.