A hi-tech sewage plant at the new hospital wing has come on line, it was announced yesterday.

Bermuda Hospitals Board CEO Venetta Symonds said the plant, thought to have cost several million dollars, was at present only providing a basic level of treatment — but that when the new hospital building opens later this year, it will be fully operational and improve the quality of discharge from the controversial Seabright sewage pipe off the south shore by at least 17 percent.

Ms Symonds added: “Our new sewage treatment plant will treat all 100,000 imperial gallons per day of the wastewater from KEMH to a very high standard.

“We are pleased that we are able to make this positive impact to our environment.”

The news came only a day after Health Minister Trevor Moniz launched a charm offensive following a tough warning from the US Consulate to American citizens that bathing off the Island’s beaches could, under certain conditions, be a health hazard due to untreated sewage pumped into the sea.

And he announced an alert system for beaches if rare weather conditions or other factors cause a rise in sewage bacteria in south shore waters, as well as public access to regular water testing carried out by Department of Health staff.

Department of Environmental Protection environmental engineer Dr Geoff Smith said: “The improvement to the treatment of 100,000 imperial gallons a day of wastewater from KEMH is expected to provide at least a 17 percent improvement to the quality of the wastewater discharged to the Seabright outfall off south shore.”

The new plant, which started operating this week, is designed to treat all the waste from the new wing, as well as that from the existing hospital complex and the continuing care unit, as well have additional capacity to cope with any further expansion at the Paget hospital.

Most sewage plants discharge effluent after the removal of solids and the breakdown of and removal of most of the biological components of the waste.

But the KEMH plant will have a third stage — called micro-filtration — which will remove even very fine particles suspended in the water after the first two stages of treatment and is expected to produce clear water with less than 10mg of suspended solids per litre.

Ms Symonds said: “The result of this is a final product that can be safely discharged to the ecosystem.”

She added other unique features of the new sewage plant was that it was built underground and also has a specially-designed ventilation system.

That system collects and filters odours before they are discharged from vents at the top of the new building — around 150 feet above sea level.

Mr Moniz said on Wednesday: “This plant will effectively dilute the 500,000 imperial gallons per day from Hamilton with 100,000 imperial gallons of highly-treated waste water.”