Investing in critical island infrastructure
29 May
It's been a busy old week on site, as the chamber has its new walls constructed (check out the block work), all the pipework is connected and placed on their concrete plinths. Commissioning work on the new panel is due to start soon, a critical phase in the progress of the project. The panel itself is at the cutting edge of technology, and sits within temperature controlled kiosk making it far more resilient then the one it is replacing.
Now for some news we had hoped not to have to give, and it's two words: traffic lights.
We hadn't planned for this to happen, in fact we had actively done whatever we could to avoid it. But during the course of the works we've come across a few bits which mean we will, temporarily, have to use them so we can safely carry out what needs to be done. We take the disruption this causes seriously, and in order to minimise it, we are going to work the weekends so we don't impact the commuting rush hours.
So, mark your diaries, we will be installing the lights along St George's Esplanade between 7:30am on 1st June and 4:00pm on 2nd June, and then again on the 15th June between 7:30am and 3:00pm. The former is for some ducting work, and the latter is to remove the extra tarmac placed around the traffic island for the duration of the works.
17 May
Yesterday's (16th May) discharge went according to plan, with contractors Geomarine Gsy Ltd putting in a sterling shift to disconnect the old pipes, surface pump the discharge into the sea, and connect the new pipes to the new station.
This was completed by 4.45pm with the sea-discharge stopped and the station pumping to the screening centre at Belle Greve by 5pm.
Tests are being taken at various points along the beach today, and we should be able to tell you during Sunday afternoon the results.
Until those results are available, our advice remains for you to avoid swimming in the area until we can assure you it is safe.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Piette Pumping Station Update
Tomorrow (16th May) we will begin the second and final wastewater drawdown as part of La Piette Pumping Station replacement project.
This means for a short time sewage will be discharged into the sea from La Piette outfall.
Signs will be out on the beach advising you against swimming between Salerie Corner and the Red Lion until water quality results are returned satisfactorily (as they were last time). We expect this advisory to be in place until the States Analyst Laboratory can complete their analysis, which will take around five days. Once we have the results, we will tell you. We remain committed to transparency, so will release the results no matter what they say.
Why are we doing this? Because our engineers need to be able to safely gain access to the pumping station to upgrade and future proof it which is what this project is all about.
We have liaised closely with the Office of Environmental Health and Pollution Regulation, outlining why this needs to happen and they have accepted our proposals for minimising risk to the environment and public health.
Water Quality Risk Manager Daffyd Griffiths said:
"Firstly I want to thank the public for heeding our advice last time, we know this can be a popular area but it is essential for these upgrades to happen. Without them the station would eventually fail altogether and that would cause a much bigger problem. Maintaining our infrastructure to prevent the environmental impact caused by pumping station breakdowns is extremely important to us.
"We do not anticipate any long-term impact and will be releasing the sample results as soon as we get them.
"We thank everyone in advance for their co-operation."
This £300,000 overhaul of the station will help future proof it for decades and reduce the need for discharges during maintenance work in the future.
Week Six:
Say helllooo to our new plinth!
Our contractors Geomarine Gsy Ltd are doing a dynamite job (not literally) and we're moving into the construction phase of the works - to mark that occasion, here's our brand new plinth, which will shortly be home to the new control panel for the pumping station.
Having this on the other side of the road to where it is now gives us far greater resilience during those winter storms.
This is all part of a £300,000 replacement of La Piette Pumping station, which is reaching the end of its useful life after 34 years.
This is one segment of a multi-million pound investment into the island's critical infrastructure planned for 2024.
Another update next week
Week Four, update two:
Racing against the rising tide and working
Week four, update three
Both samples taken on Thursday have come back from the lab as excellent under the bathing water quality standards.
Signs advising people not to swim are being removed.
You can find out more about the work we have done this week in the previous posts.
Thanks for your co-operation and do enjoy your weekends.
And from everyone here at Guernsey Water, GOOD LUCK to everyone taking part in the marathon - you got this.
in difficult conditions, our colleagues completed this phase in one shift. You can read about what work had to happen in the previous post.
Today, our teams have been taking water samples from Salerie Corner and at the Longstore slipway. These have been delivered to the States Laboratory and we are expecting initial results on Saturday. The previous samples, taken last week, came back being ranked "excellent" in the bathing water quality standards. As soon as we have results back and can remove our signage, we will announce it here.
As a precaution our signs advising people not to swim between Salerie and the Red Lion remain in place, and we would urge you to abide by this until we can confirm water quality has been unaffected.
Thank you
10 April
Due to these essential works, we are advising you to avoid swimming between the Red Lion and Salerie Corner for the next few days.
Signs have been put up at the beach.
Why? Well to begin the next phase of the works, we need to drain down the wastewater system to install a new isolation valve. The only way for our engineers to do this safely is to turn the pumping station off. This will be done between 1pm and 9pm today, during this time sewage will temporarily be discharged into the sea from the La Piette outfall.
We have liaised closely with the Office of Environmental Health and Pollution Regulation, outlining why this needs to happen and they have accepted our proposals for minimising risk to the environment and public health.
This advice will remain in place until water quality testing indicates it can be lifted. We expect this to happen within a few days and will let you know as soon as we have the results.
To complete the works, it will be essential to do this again toward the end of the project but for a much shorter duration.
Water Quality Risk Manager Daffyd Griffiths said:
"Minimising the environmental impact of our wastewater operations is extremely important to us. On this occasion, a limited discharge will allow us to make improvements to reduce the likelihood of pollution in the future. We have deliberately timed this to minimise its environmental impact. We will be taking water samples before and after the work, with the results expected in a few days. We do not anticipate any long-term impact and will be releasing the sample results as soon as we get them.
"We thank everyone in advance for their co-operation."
6 April
The unexpected concrete we told you about last week has been the focus of the works these last few days. As it encases the pipe we're trying to get to, we've had to use either hand tools or small drills to get to it - a depth of 1.3 metres. As you can imagine, progress hasn't been too swift as concrete isn't known for being soft and easy to remove, and we need to be extremely careful not to go through the pipe.
That being said we are now mostly there with excavating round the pipe and this will allow us to begin the replacement phase in earnest next week.
At this stage - caveated that it may change - it's looking like traffic lights MIGHT be needed for some overnight work one day, we aren't sure which day yet but it will be around 7pm to 5am. We will let you know on the day.
This is all part of a £300,000 replacement of La Piette Pumping station, which is reaching the end of its useful life after 34 years. This is one segment of a multi-million pound investment into the island's critical infrastructure planned for 2024
26 March
Following the discovery of some unexpected concrete when we dug down in the pavement, we had to postpone our use of traffic lights last night (27th March) and will be rescheduling that aspect of the works. We will let you know when that is going to happen with at least 24 hours notice.
But some concrete wasn't going to prevent our progress - we just adapted. The trench we told you about last week has now been filled and tarmacked. We've closed a section of the pavement where we've dug and installed ducting into a "draw pit" (pictured) which essentially is a box where the ducting from the pavement and the road meet.
We've also started excavation for the valve chamber
22 March
Week One
And things are going well.
Firstly we want to thank everyone for sharing the post we put out about the works commencing.
Second, it's GOOD NEWS - we will only be using traffic lights ONCE, and that's going to be between 7pm Wednesday 27th March and 5am on Thursday 28th.
Onto what's been happening:
We've dug the first two metre deep and three-metre-wide trench and have run the ducting through. Each duct has been GPS tagged so with any future works, contractors will know exactly where they are and can avoid them.
Up next we are moving the works in the direction of Salerie Corner and installing the pipes inside the ducting.
This is all part of a £300,000 replacement of La Piette Pumping station, which is reaching the end of its useful life after 34 years. This is one segment of a multi-million pound investment into the island's critical infrastructure planned for 2024.
Another update next week.
15 March
A 33-year old pumping station is to be refurbished as part of ongoing investment into the island's critical water infrastructure. Once the £300,000 programme of work has been completed, the pumping station will last decades.
Beginning 18 March, St George's Esplanade will have a contraflow and occasional traffic lights installed to allow workers access to the La Piette Pumping Station and the pipes under the road. The eight week programme of work will see all the pipes replaced and the station control panel relocated to the landward side of the road.
This is a major piece of work and we are doing everything we can to minimise the disruption - for instance, we've worked closely with Traffic and Highways Services to align with their resurfacing programme, so this is being done at the same time.
Weekly updates will be published on Facebook and our website, www.water.gg
Capital Delivery Manager Carl Falla said:
"As part of our multi-million-pound infrastructure investments planned for 2024, this is the next piece of work. The investment means we can continue to ensure wastewater is safely returned to sea for decades. This station is a small yet vital piece of the island's critical infrastructure.
"I want to thank everyone in advance for their patience as we undertake this work.
Over the coming months Forrest Road storage tanks will have a large scale overhaul, new pipe work is being installed at Moulin Huet and work continues at St Saviour's Water Treatment Works.