Sewerage article for Cyprus Living Mag

MAINS SEWERAGE
As a member state of the European Union, Cyprus is obliged to follow EU guidelines in many areas and one such is the requirement to control the pollution levels resulting from sewage discharge into the ground water.  In a move to assist Cyprus in this task, the EU have awarded a grant of 80% to some areas of Cyprus that will partially fund the cost of all work required to meet these requirements.

A central agency, SAPA, has been created to manage the EU funding grant, review existing sewage pollution and oversee the survey, design and installation measures necessary to ensure that Cyprus complies with the relevant guidelines.  A central common road based sewage collection system has been proposed and is already installed or in the process of being installed across the island.

Over the last 5 or so years, everyone will have been aware of the dust and inconvenience as SAPA have installed the pipework for this road-based sewerage system in Paphos and some surrounding villages.  

Whilst work has stopped due to the financial crisis,  SAPA are now starting to look to the next phase of the project and have started issuing invoices to residents of Peyia and Tala to generate additional funds to continue their island wide work.

Peyia is a municipality and, as such, there will be no Government funding for their project.  In addition, their council have elected to proceed with the road-based system.

Tala is a council and will therefore qualify for 80% Government funding for the project.  However, the council and residents have elected not to proceed with the scheme following a review of the terrain and technical difficulties that will result from installation of a common system in the Tala area and have formally confirmed to SAPA and Central Government that Tala does not wish to be part of the Project . 

The need to review existing sewage treatment methods has arisen due to a European directive that states that where there is a population in excess of 2,000, a sewage system should be in place to ensure that ground water pollution is kept within EU guideline.   The EU guidelines additionally allow for the fact that although a common road based system is preferable, such a common system is not mandatory where installation is considered to be technically impractical or not financially viable, and where an acceptable alternative can be installed. 

Although SAPA seem determined to drive Peyia and Tala down the road-based system route the review undertaken both by Tala council representatives and a qualified engineer, has highlighted the following reasons for rejection of the proposed common system by  Tala council and residents [although the same objections apply equally to Peyia]:

·         A road-based system and connected sewage processing plant is seen by other EU countries as an outdated method of dealing with sewerage.  Not only due to the cost of installation of such systems and the excessive excavation work required, but also due to the costs of processing the effluent to ensure that the final output is environmentally friendly.   In addition to the costs of the necessary pipework, system control and system monitoring, road based pumping stations are required and the cost of electricity to deal with the processing will prove expensive.

·         The terrain in the Tala area is such that many main road based pumping stations would be needed to ensure that sewage continues to move up hill to a main collection sewer and many throttling stations to control the speed of sewage in downhill areas. This is causing concerns over the environmental consequences of long term high energy consumption, attendant costs of power and ongoing and full 24 hour technical support, all of which will inevitably fall on householders.  There is also concern over odour nuisance, contamination and health hazard due to overflows resulting from flooding on common roads due to poor drainage, power failure or mechanical/electrical breakdown and blockage, to which all sewage pumps are prone.  All these potential issues  will lead to groundwater contamination which will breach EU environmental guidelines.  In addition, the introduction of road based pumping stations will require availability of emergency power units, back-up pumps, emergency ground based storage tanks to cover pump failure, 24 hour maintenance support with necessary qualified staff, suitable vehicles and tankers to deal with pollution cleanup from flooding, a full inventory of spare pumps and spare parts and dedicated warehouse and office facilities.  It is clear that Tala council will be unable to fund these high costs and that no alternative funding method has been considered.  As such, this plan for a common road based system in Tala is considered to be financially and technically impractical.

·         The installation of a common road based sewage system will also require that many householders would have to install domestic pumps to lift their waste up to the main sewer connection in the road above their plot.   This is also causing concerns over the environmental consequences of long term high energy consumption and attendant costs of power, which will, again, inevitably fall on householders, together with the high costs of ongoing maintenance and operation.  In addition, there is also the prospect of odour nuisance, domestic contamination and health hazard due to overflows and damage within domestic property resulting from heavy rain, flooding, power failure or mechanical/electrical breakdown and blockage, to which all both road based and small domestic sewage pumps are prone, and which would again lead to groundwater contamination in contravention of  EU environmental guidelines.

·         Any road based system in hilly terrain that requires multiple pumping stations and relies on electricity will be a concern when power cuts are a regular occurrence.   Tala was recently the subject of three separate extended power cuts over a 24-hour period.

·         The road based project would be very expensive and the expenditure, pollution and long term upheaval due to noise, dust, traffic disruption and inconvenience would be unjustified given that the existing domestic treatment units currently installed domestic treatment systems in Tala work perfectly well.

·         The processing station near the airport has not been designed to have sufficient capacity to deal with waste from Peyia and Tala.

·         There has been no public presentation, input taken from the community or process of consultation on the design, costs and timing or the project as would be a normal process in any other EU member state. As a consequence of the lack of transparency to date and the technical difficulties associated with the installation of a common road based system, Tala council and the residents will continue to resist the unjustified proposal made by SAPA to include Tala in the common system.

·         There has been no survey, design, cost analysis, feasibility study, project plan or Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project and no soil testing has been performed to ascertain whether the existing Tala systems do actually exceed EU guidelines in respect of groundwater contamination.  As a consequence of this lack of preparation, it is clear that there is no basis for calculating or levying a charge for work where the scope of work has not been defined or agreed.

·         The EU has provided funds such that 80% funding from the Government has been made available for Tala to upgrade existing sewage treatment methods if found to be below EU standards but the Government does not now have the necessary funds to cover Tala and there is no early prospect of the Central Government being in a financial position to meet this funding contribution.  The earliest anticipated date for such funds being available is 2020. 

·         The inability of Central Government to provide SAPA with the necessary funding for those parts of the project that have already been started and are currently incomplete would indicate that SAPA is looking to obtain funds from Tala residents to finance other incomplete projects in Cyprus and not the Tala area from which the funding is requested.

·         There is no detailed understanding of the technical and financial challenges that will apply to any future installation of a common system in the hilly areas that comprise Tala.

·         Review of other road works installations in Paphos and nearby villages demonstrate that the road surfaces where pipes have been laid and manholes installed would never be reinstated to the original quality.

·         In the event that soil testing is performed per EU guidelines and the existing Tala domestic treatment units are found to be below EU Emission guidelines then an EU acceptable upgrade alternative is available.  The alternative solution to satisfy EU requirements is to add an additional treatment Pod to existing domestic treatment units.   The cost for this would be considerably less than the road-based system and would not necessitate disruption to the roads and the resultant associated expenditure.   In addition, the costs of a common system and the processing of Tala waste would be avoided and the maintenance costs of each individual domestic unit would not be the responsibility of Tala council, SAPA or Central Government but would remain under the control of the individual householder as at present.  Such pods are widely used in the rest of Europe and are currently being installed in remote areas across Cyprus.  They are environmentally friendly and remove all the concerns raised by both council members and residents alike.

As a first step, Tala residents have rejected the unwarranted charge from SAPA and wish to see the charge withdrawn until further investigation is undertaken to determine the actual current pollution levels in Tala and whether any new measures should actually be taken with the resulting high expenditure incurred, both to Government, SAPA, Tala council and the Tala residents.  In addition, and if current pollution levels are found to be below EU guidelines, they believe that there must be a full technical and financial study to determine the viability and suitability of a road-based system and on the acceptance of the EU acceptable proposed upgrade pod or other alternative. 

Following a meeting at SAPA on 19 February, the charges for sewerage for Tala residents have been frozen until the end of 2016.  This then gives the council and residents time to negotiate further with the appropriate Government Ministries.

Peyia residents wish to see a public meeting so that the design, timetable and costings of the project would be disclosed and, as a result of their recent vocal objections, it is expected that this will now take place.

Given the alternative which is available, one might ask why SAPA is so keen to persevere with an antiquated, expensive, hard to maintain and non-environmentally friendly road-based sewerage system in Tala and Peyia which will incur a large financial burden on Central Government, Tala Council, Peyia municipality, residents  of both communities and additionally cause disruption and deter tourists from enjoying their time in Cyprus.