Specialist sewer surveys to start soon

Tuesday 08 March 2022

Guernsey Water is beginning the next phase of surveying the island’s sewer network this coming week, as part of an ongoing investigation to prioritise areas for the upcoming sewer renovation programme.

The next phase of CCTV surveys, in the north of the island, are expected to run until Easter. Work so far has involved Guernsey Water heading into the island’s sewers to conduct a series of surveys to monitor the condition of the sewers using specialist CCTV equipment.

The specialist surveys enable Guernsey Water to understand sewer conditions so that a plan of rehabilitation - primarily sewer lining - can be implemented. This work would be before the point where infrastructure may need to be fully replaced. 

The organisation has advised that approaching maintenance of the island’s sewers in this way offers several benefits when compared to traditional methods and sewer replacement: 

• Substantial monetary saving, generally costing a fifth of the cost of replacement. 

• Significantly less disruption to the Island’s roads. Taking around a tenth of the time to rehabilitate than to replace.

• Considerably less waste generated than traditional methods. 

Pictured: The work involving specialist CCTV equipment is hoped to reduce costs and disruption to the wider public. 

Carl Falla, Guernsey Water’s Capital Delivery Manager, claimed that CCTV surveys have so far provided a beneficial means to proactively identify and remediate issues within the local sewer network.

“We’d also like to remind Islanders that while there is a new phase starting this month, which will involve some minor road closures, the surveys and sewer relining provide benefit in the long-term with lower overall costs and disruption,” he said.

“We still plan to run the surveys every ten years in addition to ongoing surveying and sewer cleaning carried out as business as usual by Guernsey Water.”