Domestic Wastewater A Problem
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
February 12, 2011 (SKNIS)
Designers, architects, contractors, building inspectors and environmental health officers will be trained in the latest onsite wastewater treatment and disposal techniques at a workshop scheduled for Monday, February 14, 2011.
The workshop is coordinated by the Ministry of Public Utilities via the Water Services Department (WSD). In a press release, the WSD revealed that there was need for such a workshop considering that one of the identified threats to the Basseterre Valley Aquifer, and to groundwater in general, is pollution from the inappropriate disposal of domestic wastewater. The modern technologies are designed to eliminate leakage into groundwater which may be used for human consumption and in the long-term safeguard our environment.
The course forms part of a Global Environmental Facility Integrating Watershed and Coastal Area Management (GEF-IWCAM) project, which is co-funded by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Training topics include public health impacts related to wastewater, introduction to septic tanks, preliminary discussions on the building code of St. Kitts and Nevis, proper design of septic tanks, structural design issues, absorption fields and alternatives to traditional septic tanks and soak-aways.