Hamilton's sewage could eventually be pumped directly out to the reef line rather than into shallow waters, the City's Mayor revealed yesterday.

Sutherland Madeiros, announcing that work has begun on a new $680,000 sewage pipe from Dundonald Street to Front Street, said overseas consultants were considering all the options about how to get rid of the waste in future.

The Corporation of Hamilton has responsibility for dealing with the city's sewage from businesses and homes and Mr. Madeiros said it was the most important function it carried out.

There is currently one sewer line running through the city and a treatment works on Front Street, opposite the Supermart. Sewage is deposited into shallow waters along the South Shore.

Mr. Madeiros told The Royal Gazette that Canadian firm Engineering Associates was doing an analysis of the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to get rid of sewage.

"In the 1990s we looked at depositing it out into deeper waters and it was prohibitively expensive," he said. "Our consultants said then that in another ten years we could put it to the reef line and we are getting to that point now.

"Getting out to the reef line, based on the population in the area, is about as good a system as one could expect."

He added: "It's very clear from them (the consultants) that we need, with new technology, to improve what we are putting into the ocean from an ecological standpoint.

"Sometimes chemicals aren't environmentally friendly. There are certain systems to improve the quality of sewage that require electricity, but that could mean using more electricity. "

The Mayor said the Corporation needed to take the pressure off Front Street, hence the new 2,800-foot-long pipe which will take five months to complete and have a life span of more than 20 years.

It will divert a considerable volume of sewage away from the most vulnerable section of the existing Front Street sewer until a planned overhaul of the city's entire sewage system is carried out.

"This is pro-active rather than reactive," said Mr. Madeiros. "This feature and function is the most responsibility that the Corporation has. The lights can go out, the roads can get bumpy... but you can't operate a city without a sewerage system."

He warned that work on the new pipe would create some disruption on the roads but the end result would be a "first class and dependable system". Dundonald Street and much of Court Street will be repaved once construction is complete.