Despite recent brighter weather over the past few days, February is on track to be the wettest on record since 1978.
157.5mm of rain – more than 6 inches – has fallen in the first 26 days of the month, already more than twice the average for the whole of the month.
Guernsey Water said the sustained rainfall had placed significant pressure on the cesspit service, resulting in unprecedented demand.
‘The volume of rainfall we experienced placed exceptional pressure on the cesspit service, and demand rose very quickly as a result,’ said business change manager Andrea Simpson.
‘Our teams worked extremely hard in difficult conditions to maintain the service and prioritise emergency collections, while continuing to support scheduled work where possible. We’re grateful to customers for their patience during what was a very challenging period.’
During the last week, Guernsey Water’s cesspit teams completed 4,422 collections, an increase of 7% compared to the week before.
This equates to 295 additional collections, each involving travel to site, set-up, emptying and return to the disposal point.
The service also recorded the highest number of emergency cesspit collections ever completed in a single day, with 65 emergency call-outs.
Nearly 10% of all collections that day were emergencies, with 40 reported by 10.30am.
Guernsey Water said emergency collections required scheduled work to be reorganised at short notice to prioritise urgent cases, while maintaining the wider service.
They added that after a drier few days, the service had been recovering from the intense activity experienced last week. But some scheduled collections may be rearranged.
However, to support this recovery, some scheduled collections may have been rearranged.
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