Sudden downpour floods oil septic
An overwhelming volume of rainwater caused flooding of the waste oil septic tank at the Avatiu Power Station, earlier this week. The 3-chamber tank collects waste oil spillage, which is routinely collected and pumped into tanks for disposal. However, during the current major re-roofing work at the station, the collection of rainwater was left temporarily exposed to a downpour because of the removal of downpipes.
Monday morning’s excessive water caused an overflow to the adjacent stream, which staff immediately addressed with containment and clean-up. Although an odour was evident, the spillage was safely managed with special material and equipment. Ordinarily, the flow of rainwater is not an issue and would have otherwise been controlled. The suddenness of the downpour during the roofing work couldn’t be avoided at the time and the builders were required to take remedial action quickly.
As CEO Apii Timoti has already stressed, TAU has been working on major design work and retrofit, particularly in terms of drainage and fuel lines to bring the facility up to meet the new regulations, which in the future, will be binding on TAU. The cost for this work is expected to be significant and will need to be undertaken in stages. These improvement plans are part of TAU’s annual budgeting plans.

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