Western Samoa, Pacific Ocean
Town: Apia, Western Samoa
Location: 4331 kilometres from Sydney situated in the Pacific Ocean
Population: 37,391
Client: Samoa Water Authority
Council: N/A
Year: 2008
Scope: Design for the installation of Pressure Sewer Equipment on each individual property around the capital of Apia.
Environmental Factors: The capital city of Western Samoa, Apia did not have any sewer services. The object of this project was to provide sewerage for approximately 150 buildings within the capital city. Some of these buildings included multi storey offices and accommodation apartments, commercial business applications, residential housing, hospitals and tourist accommodation resorts. The key elements of this particular design project were to ascertain the number of plumbing fixtures located within these commercial buildings and design a Pressure Sewer Pump Unit and reticulation system around these high-water consumption sites. Further complications to overcome were the dilapidated gravity sewer drains which terminated at septic systems and the high ground water table combined with monsoonal flooding.
PSSA Solution: Onsite design consultation with property owners to determine the construction scope. The people of Samoa still follow traditional tribal/village values so our designer needed to take these values into consideration. Extensive community consultation was adopted to ensure all cultural and heritage issues were considered.
Environmental Outcomes: The localised, open drains in the street network improved beyond expectation which improved local health and protection of the environment. Also observed was the reduction in odour around the capital city. This project removed 27.3 million litres of septic and greywater discharge from the environment per annum.