The Soapberry Wastewater Treatment Plant in St Catherine, Jamaica, serves approximately 256,000 people in the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA) which includes the urban centres of Kingston, St Andrew, South East St Catherine (Portmore) and Greater Spanish Town. The KMA is home to a majority of the island’s population, accounting for approximately 50% of the total population. The KMA also has the largest sewerage coverage of any area of the island, approximately 40%, and the plant currently treats about 75,000 m3/day of sewage.
The city is growing, and to support its growth, the local water utility intends to increase access to potable water to 85% and sewerage connections to 50% by 2030. As it expands the metropolitan sewerage system to meet the growing needs, it is also investigating the expansion of the wastewater treatment capacity of Soapberry by 50% to treat 150,000m3/day, and to assess the plant’s adaptability and resilience to climate change.
CEAC is part of the expert advisory group – which includes international firms KPMG and Mott McDonald – assessing the feasibility of expansion and a strategy for a Public Private Partnership (PPP) to achieve this. CEAC’s role, as the Climate Change specialists in the advisory group, is to assess the climate resilience of the plant, its readiness for the future and to propose mitigation measures as necessary.
An ultimate objective of the investigation is to determine the business case for a public-private-partnership that will support the expansion, and to improve the capacity and ability of the Soapberry Wastewater Treatment Plant to adapt and be resilient to climate change.