GUYANA Water Inc. (GWI) yesterday announced that it is taking legal action against restaurant owners and other places of commercial cooking which have refused to install grease traps within. GWI Director of Corporate Services, attorney-at-law Mr. Nigel Niles disclosed that the utility already has five defaulting business owners in Court and several others have received warning letters.
He reiterated that disposing of any solid matter, other than lavatory and kitchen waste, into the sewerage system is a criminal offence under the 2002 Water and Sewerage Act .
All food handling facilities are required to install grease receptors to prevent grease entering the sewer. Receptors or grease traps should be sized according to the volume of waste being discharged from the facility. A typical grease trap must have the capacity to hold waste water for a minimum of 30 minutes before it is discharged into the sewer system.
Grease traps should also be consistently cleaned and all fats and other solid waste should be removed from them and discarded appropriately.
Previously, GWI made several appeals, by way of letters, to commercial customers to install grease traps and carried out a public education programme.
It also provided information on the specification of the units suitable for individual businesses, Niles said.
GWI Sanitation Manager, Mr. Rensforde Joseph disclosed that only 35 per cent of the eating houses located in the sewered area have installed grease traps.
As such, the sewerage system continues to be abused.
He said it is there for the benefit of customers and can only become 100 per cent efficient if customers desist from abusing it.
Joseph said solid waste dumped into the system by delinquent customers, especially fats and oils, usually solidify and clog the sewer lines.
This becomes more harmful when caught within the sewerage pumps and, on many occasions, the pump motors are damaged and that results in sewerage overflows, which are a terrible inconvenience and a public health hazard, he said.
GWI has commenced the rehabilitation of the sewerage system, under the Georgetown Water Supply and Sewerage Programme II funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
It includes the recently completed Tucville Septage Receiving Station and several pump stations around Georgetown and GWI continues to appeal to customers to install grease traps on kitchen sinks, as that would significantly improve the efficiency of the sewerage system, a statement explained.