The Gozo sewage outfall replacement section to start the repairs will be sailing on a barge from Grand Harbour to Gozo today – Sunday, the Water Services Corporation has said. It added that the required specialised equipment is also in place.

The WSC said that the outfall at Ras il-Hobz, has lost its last 35 metres due to past illegal discharges, limiting its discharge point from around 90 meters to around 40.

The repairs, including an improved setup at the plant, will ensure optimal environmental performance, the Corporation said.

“Over and above this, a state of the art recently patented diffuser will also be installed. The works will incur a cost of around half a million euro.”

Work, once started, will take 10 days to complete, the Corporation said. Demobilisation, including diver decompression is expected to take another five days.

It explained that the operation will be undertaken by 18 highly skilled workers including a team of 10 foreign divers.

Equipment will involve one motorised barge, an unmotorised flat barge, and a support tugboat. A saturation system to ensure the safety of the divers will be mounted.

This system includes a bell-like structure that will allow divers to surface from a depth of around 80 meters to enter a decompression chamber.

Also, three container houses, two generator units, and other diving equipment will be loaded on the barge, the WSC said. The heaviest item is the hyperbaric chamber, which weighs 18 tons.

The hyperbaric unit will be the residence of the two highly skilled deep-sea divers for five days, in which they will have all safety equipment and basic amenities/provisions.

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