25 city businesses help destroy sewerage – Irfaan Ali

Oct 23, 2009 News

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– Court action imminent

Failure to adhere to the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) call for the use of grease traps is likely to see at least five major businesses in the city being taken before the courts shortly.
An additional 20 medium to small scale businesses could experience a similar fate, said Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali, during a recent interview.
The move to the courts, he said, comes as part of the water company’s enforcement efforts to ensure that the use of grease traps by restaurants and other similar businesses to preserve the sewerage in the city.
A number of defaulting businesses were identified earlier this year, according to the Minister, a development which had prompted a public awareness education programme.
Following the public awareness period, Ali disclosed that letters were sent to businesses that continued to default. “Among the number of defaulting businesses that we found, some had taken corrective action…but there are others that haven’t taken heed.”
He noted that measures have already been put in place to deal with those businesses that have not taken corrective action.  By way of court action defaulting entities will be forced to put in place grease traps, Minister Ali said.
The call for the use of grease traps came as GWI sought to step up its efforts to address the problems affecting the sewerage, primary among them being the failure of restaurants and hotels to put in place grease trap mechanisms. It was disclosed that such entities are mandated to put in place such mechanisms with much urgency.
According to information emanating from GWI the owners of entities the likes of restaurants, caterers, school cafeterias and other commercial cooking facilities must avoid discharging grease into the sewerage system. And this could be achieved through the use of the grease traps.
Information from the water company states that typical building codes require all such new or rebuilt facilities to install a grease trap to pre-treat grease entering a sewer. “All units should be fitted with a standard final-stage sample box and traps must typically be sized for at least a 30-minute peak waste-water flow detention time from all contributory sources.”
The grease trap mechanism is expected to be placed under the sinks within the entities where greasy substances are allowed to exit. The grease traps or traps are passive devices required by municipalities to stop grease, fat, oil, wax or debris from entering the city’s sanitary sewer system.
The mechanism, this newspaper was informed, could cost approximately $20,000 based on the type of material of which it is made.  GWI had indicated that its campaign was geared at encouraging the use of the grease traps.
“We haven’t prosecuted anybody as yet but we have been warning people. We have found that only about 10 to 15 per cent of the people operating restaurants have a grease trap in place. This is unsatisfactory, we cannot accept this anymore, it is damaging our sewerage system immensely,” a GWI representative had informed this newspaper.
The practice of congesting the system with other foreign materials has also been listed as another factor that is causing major concern to the integrity of the system.
Earlier this year, Minister Ali said that the entities would have been given one week to comply with regulations that specify that they must have measures in place to mitigate the risk of clogging the sewerage system. The Minister had then cited the importance of the placement of grease traps, particularly at restaurants and hotels even lamented the fact that several have not been complying with the measures outlined by GWI.
“We want them to know that they are under the radar. They have maybe a week to correct themselves after which they will have to face the penalty of the laws and regulations governing the Sewerage Act.”
He had also pointed to the fact that a major challenge that contributes to the deterioration of the system is the intrusion of solid waste materials including animal carcasses, household items which cannot be moved by the sewerage pumps. This, as a result, leads to the overflow of effluents, GWI Acting Chief Executive, Yuri Chandisingh had underscored.
“On almost every occasion that we have intervened, and we have gone into some areas, particularly near hotels, we have found this is the problem. These items block our system because they are put in indiscriminately.
We call on the hotel and restaurant operators to ensure this does not happen because they will be penalised,” Chandisingh had cautioned.

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