Water firm plans to take over cesspit operations

A water company said it plans to take control of all cesspit operations in Guernsey by the end of the year.

Guernsey Water currently handles customer service and billing for cesspits, while States Works manages schedules, tanker operations and driver management.

But the new arrangements would lead to Guernsey Water taking control of those elements from States Works, which the company said was part of its "ongoing improvements to reliability, efficiency and customer experience".

Andrea Simpson, business change manager at Guernsey Water, said wastewater collection volumes would not change and the same number of drivers would be required.

Guernsey Water said the cesspit service was a critical part of the island's infrastructure, with 36 drivers collecting about 500 million litres (132 million gallons) of wastewater from 5,500 customers each year.

After being collected, the wastewater is transferred to the sewerage network for safe disposal, the firm added.

It said the decision follows consultation between the company and States Works and builds on recent improvements - including upgrades to the scheduling and billing systems along with investment in 15 new tankers.

The company said the changes had already resulted in fewer emergency collections and more collections being completed on time.

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