Government has provided further details on the progress being made in order to stop the appearance of sewage on South Shore beaches.

Among the measures are “significant improvements” to the Tynes Bay septage facility, which are being planned and implemented, and “visiting engineers” will be weighing in on the feasibility of current proposals for a waste water treatment facility, according to a Government spokeswoman.

“All stakeholders are working together” with the aim of improving grease collection from Hamilton restaurants; improving the way sewage is handled at the Tynes Bay Septage Facility “where investments in a new plant are being made”; introducing “enhanced primary treatment of waste by the Corporation of Hamilton”, and continuing twice weekly monitoring of bathing water quality by the Department of Health, according to the spokeswoman.

With no national sewer system, Bermuda disposes of up to one million gallons of municipal sewage every day via an offshore disposal system — the Seabright outfall, located 700 metres offshore and 10 metres below the surface just to the west of the Hungry Bay area in Devonshire.

While in normal conditions prevailing winds and tides disperse the sewage into deeper waters with “negligible” effects, according to the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, winds and swell can combine to push the sewage inshore and onto local beaches, where they appear in the form of so-called “grease balls”. In April, when the sewage balls were first noted coming ashore this year, then Minister for the Environment Trevor Moniz announced a raft of measures aimed at tackling the problem after The Royal Gazette exposed a 2013 study that warned of “intermittent contamination” of South Shore waters due to the sewage outfall, creating a “public health hazard” and rendering the beaches “unfit for recreational use”.

However, Mr Moniz maintained that the presence of sewage on beaches “does not necessarily mean the water is contaminated”. But recently the “grease balls” — comprised of restaurant effluent and human waste — were once again found along the entirety of Grape Bay beach and the eastern section of Elbow Beach, the second time in less than three months.

Municipal policy measures aimed at ensuring restaurants dispose of fats, oils and grease properly are also being implemented, said the spokeswoman, while the Department of Health has invested in lab equipment to put further scrutiny on restaurants’ compliance with new policies.

“An individual has been contracted by the Corporation of Hamilton and is assisted by a MoHSE summer student to work with City of Hamilton food establishments and assure compliance,” said the spokeswoman.