WASA
to use wastewater for Industry, Fire Fighting
By Raffique Shah
Trinidad Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
07 01 07
THE
Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) flushes 20
million gallons (75,000m³) of crystal
clear water a day into the Gulf of Paria, off the
Beetham coastline. But before thirsty consumers
rush down to the area to trap this "free" water
for domestic use, be warned. The bulk of that water
comes from raw sewage that is processed at WASA's
relatively new Beetham Wastewater Treatment Plant
before being discharged as environmentally acceptable
effluent. The waste comes from sewage, surface
run-off and even effluent from the Angostura distillery.
It is collected from as far east as Mt Hope to "greater" Port
of Spain in the west. Now, as the world faces an
almost inevitable global water crisis, WASA is
planning to find profitable uses for even more
treated wastewater from the Beetham and other wastewater
plants it expects to construct elsewhere in Trinidad
and Tobago.
Godfrey
Ventour, the Authority's general manager, business
services, is a man with a vision-and passion.
He believes that while this country is fortunate
to have an excess of rainfall when compared with
its water requirements, we need to plan now for
the effects of global warming that could well change
our water equation. "Available surface water
in Trinidad is estimated at 3,600 million cubic
metres (MCM) per year, while current demand is
around 350 MCM," he told Business Express. "So
we are at a very comfortable level in so far as
surface water goes, at least for now. But with
climate changes on the one hand, and an increase
in demand through population growth and expansion
of heavy industries on the other, we could well
find ourselves in trouble sometime in the near
future. Which is why WASA is focussing on wastewater
treatment and profitable usage of this valuable
resource."
He
likens the flushing of treated wastewater from
the Beetham plant to the flaring of natural gas
back in the 1960s. The then Prime Minister, Dr.
Eric Williams, asked his technocrats if nothing
could be done to utilise this gas. Out of that
simple enquiry came the country's first downstream
gas industry, the W.R.Grace ammonia plant at Savonetta.
Forty years later the country garners more revenue
from its downstream gas industries than it does
from oil or any other sector. "Surely, WASA
cannot continue to operate, indeed, expand its
wastewater treatment, at a cost, I should add,
and just flush the end product into the Gulf," said
Ventour. "In many countries more developed
than ours, wastewater forms an integral part of
their overall usage. Where we go from here, how
we use wastewater for the heavy industries sector,
among other applications, is critical not only
to WASA, but to the country as a whole."
Many
people are not aware that of the 336 MCM of fully
potable water a year produced by WASA,
over 70 MCM is used by light and heavy industries.
Domestic consumers, by comparison, use 120 MCM,
while agriculture uses a mere 10 MCM, with a whopping
145 MCM listed as "unaccounted for".
This latter volume is lost either through illegal
connections or massive leakages in WASA's distribution
system. What hurts WASA, and by extension the country,
is that most of the 70 MCM used by industry is
not for drinking, but mainly as coolant for their
heavy plants and equipment as well as in the processing
of their downstream energy products. "And
they don't need potable water for this," Ventour
said.
In that context, WASA and the National Energy
Corporation (NEC) has signed a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) to pursue the use of treated wastewater for
industrial purposes at Pt Lisas (East and West),
Pointe-a-Pierre (where the Petrotrin refinery uses
huge amounts of water), down to the Union Estate
at La Brea where new plants, among them Alutrint's
smelter, are scheduled to be built. The MOU was
signed back in January 2006. It formally established
a partnership for the successful development of
the water sector in the interest of sustainable
development. NEC and WASA agreed:
*To develop, in collaboration with the Fire Services
Division, a joint preparedness programme for fighting
industrial fires throughout Trinidad and Tobago;
and
*To pursue the establishment of a joint venture
company for researching and undertaking water reuse
projects to serve industrial customers and firefighting
demands. Any such project will be done with Cabinet
approval and in the national interest for sustainable
environment protection, integrated water resources
management, development of the industrial water
sector and the transfer of water treatment technologies.
Following the WASA/NEC agreement, the Authority
also contracted the services of Canadian consultancy
firm GENIVAR to develop a Water and Wastewater
Master Plan for Trinidad and Tobago to the year
2035. That agreement was signed last May at a cost
of US$6.9 million. It is expected the study will
be completed in 18 months.
While
the study will encompass overall water management
in the country, Ventour is excited over the promotion
and usage of wastewater. Phase I of the Beetham
facility has been operational since 2004. Its current
capacity is 75,000 cubic metres per day, and proposed
expansion in the new study will almost double its
capacity. "Imagine we run a submarine pipeline
from the plant down to Pt Lisas in the first instance,
and the industrial plants both existing and planned
make the necessary adjustments to use wastewater
as coolant and for other, non-potable requirements.
This alone will free 27 MCM of fully treated water
a year solely for domestic consumption in areas
like Central and South Trinidad. If we factor in
the new plants due to come on stream at Pt Lisas
East over the next four years, usage will increase,
as will production at our Beetham facility. So
rather than use fully treated water for cooling
turbines and the like, or for manufacturing processes
that don't need potable water, we are talking about
eliminating this waste of a vital element to human
life while not taking anything from the industrialisation
of the country."
Ventour insists, though, there are many other uses
for wastewater that we must consider sooner rather
than later, and he believes that the manufacturing
and commercial sectors must come on board. "Much
the way we held discussions with Mr Prakash Saith
and the NEC, we'd like to bring the TTMA and
the various chambers of commerce on board. We
have already held discussions with the Fire Service
regarding water used for their purposes. They
currently use salt water, and they have mains
designed to pipe this through their system. However,
salt water damages some of the hydrants as well
as expensive mobile equipment not designed to
cope with the ravages of salt water. Wastewater
is the perfect alternative for this purpose.
This is what is done in Hong Kong, and among
other developed countries.
"Think, too, of the vast amounts of water
used to keep facilities like golf courses and sports
grounds in order, especially during the dry season.
If we replace that potable water with wastewater,
it would not only mean savings to WASA and the
country, but also to owners of such facilities." In
the agrucultural sector, during the dry season,
farmers often use water from polluted sources to
sustain their crops. Ventour pointed out that the
country's aquifers are "recharged" during
the wet season, allowing for a better quality water
to be accessible to WASA, and also to farmers.
Ventour
admits that WASA's current distribution system
is archaic ("some lines are 150 years
old!") and that consumers are angry and very
concerned about potable water not reaching them.
Many of them, therefore, may look at wastewater
as a distraction rather than boosting overall water
security. But, he said, WASA is working on it. "The
entire system out of the Navet dam, for example,
needs to be replaced....all the mains," he
said. "A similar situation exists in the Western
Peninsula, from Maraval through Carenage. It is
why we are developing a master plan that will cost
us billions of dollars to implement, but will also
prepare us for the next 50 years. And we simply
cannot change all these mains in, say, one year.
It's a tedious exercise...bear in mind we are talking
here about excavations along the nation's roads.
We are currently replacing around 100 kilometres
of mains a year, but for consumers in areas that
are on the drawing board, it would seem they are
being ignored or neglected."
Still,
he said, people must be made acutely aware of
the need for water conservation and for using
alternatives like wastewater. "Some modern
public buildings are being equipped with small
wastewater facilities," he continued. "I
know the eTecK main building slated for the Tamana
Park is so designed. I expect many more new structures
to aim for what are called sustainable buildings,
a key component of which is the re-use of water
for flushing toilets, watering lawns, etc. For
WASA, while all this helps, we must find ways of
using the huge volumes of wastewater we now process,
which will only grow as we expand to other catchment
areas. People of this country must not think of
treated wastewater as sewage. That water is crystal
clear, carries minimal faecal coliform, and is
perfectly re-usable for non-drinking purposes."
Capital cost of the Beetham plant thus far (Phase
I) has been $226 million. Its projected operational
cost stands at $165.6 million a year while revenue
from usage of wastewater is expected to be $170
million a year. The latter will increase significantly
with little more capital outlay since the plant
is built in a modular fashion. It is the largest
sewage treatment plant in the Caribbean and the
first WASA facility to use ultra-violet radiation
to disinfect plant effluent.
Trinidad
Express
Wednesday, June 27th 2007
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©2007 Trinidad Express. All Rights Reserved.
