St. George's has come close to a serious sewage spillage into the harbour on several occasions and desperately needs a new pumping system, according to Town Manager Lance Furbert.

The Old Town is currently in talks with Government to try to get funding for a new $800,000 sewage station.

Mr. Furbert said that if Corporation of St. George staff had not been so diligent checking the clapped-out pumping station at Market Wharf, then the town would have suffered a number of overspills into the harbour.

The problem was the pumps had reached the end of their natural life and needed to be replaced with a new pumping system, he said.

When the tanks at the station are full, the pumps stop working and the sewage is then in danger of spilling into the harbour.

"We desperately need a new sewage system as we are right on the knife edge. We have come very close on a number of occasions and the only thing that is preventing a serious spill is that we have excellent staff that constantly monitor this," Mr. Furbert told The Royal Gazette.

"The bottom line is it is money. Government has been very co-operative and I think they will help us to get this done sooner rather than later. I would hope that it will be in the near future, but we are still in talks.

"The system is designed that when the tanks overflow the pumps stop pumping and it is designed to go into the harbour, and if we can't get there quickly enough we'll have sewage spilling into the harbour.

"And when the cruise ships come in they pump into our system and we have a tremendous amount of sewage.

"The problem is the pumps in the station are old and beyond their active life. We are patching them up and trying to keep them together as best we can.

"Government has been extremely helpful sending technical officers and working with us. A couple of overseas companies have come in to have a look and give us advice, and they want to be in a position to bid for the job if it goes ahead."

Sewage from houses and businesses in the town runs downhill in a series of pipes to Market Wharf and then is pumped north up over the hill and to an outlet near St. George's Golf Club where it is discharged into the sea.

Grease from restaurants often congeals and causes problems for the pumps as well, meaning Corporation staff have the unpleasant task of scooping out the fat on a daily basis and placing it in garbage bags.

One cruise ship docked at Ordnance Island pumps directly into the tanks, while another at Penno's Wharf discharges into a smaller substation which is then transferred to the main sewage station.

Mr. Furbert said cruise ships can only hold sewage for four hours before discharging it, and while in port they have to pump it into sewage stations.

He said the plan was to build modern pumping station next to the existing one so that there would be a back-up if one failed.

"We've basically got it figured out and it is now just a case of money," he added.