Corporation of Hamilton officials have pooh-poohed a suggestion to turn the Island's sewage into reusable water in the near future.

But Corporation secretary Roger Sherratt revealed that the idea was under consideration as a long-term possibility.

Top golfer and United Bermuda Party parliamentary candidate Kim Swan called on the Corporation to consider the alternative route after it recently announced plans to invest almost $6 million into an upgraded sewage treatment system which would pump cleaner waste water into the sea.

He told The Royal Gazette : "If the Corporation of Hamilton intend to invest millions of dollars into treating sewage so they can pump it out to sea, it would make more sense to treat the sewage to the point where the water could be re-used.

"The Corporation of Hamilton are definitely on the right footing but why not use the water instead of wasting it?'' Mr. Swan said the water could be treated so it could be used to irrigate the Island's golf courses and open areas. It could also be sold for these purposes and help the Corporation recoup its investment.

However, Mr. Sherratt explained that the situation was not that easy.

The state-of-the-art sewage processing unit it plans to put in place over the next three years was for primary sewage treatment, he said.

The present system could handle up to one million gallons of sewage per day which it chopped very finely before pumping it out to sea.

The new system would take the vast amount of waste and filter out any solid objects plus grease.

However, the type of system Mr. Swan was talking about, continued Mr.

Sherratt, was for secondary treatment.

This was "very, very expensive,'' and would require more space than was presently available at Front Street where the existing sewage system is housed because of the sheer volume of sewage, he said.

"We're talking many, many millions of dollars. It also would require a fairly large area to put the sewage treatment system in. We do not have that type of space on the Hamilton Docks.

"It would have to be placed somewhere else, probably between the city and the sewage outfall in Paget, so Point Finger Road perhaps.'' The city system handles the City of Hamilton's sewage plus surrounding areas, he pointed out, including CedarBridge Academy, Prospect, Tynes Bay, the Princess and Cedar Park.

Mr. Sherratt pointed out that the Corporation had done an extensive survey of its future sewage treatment needs.

"Moving toward secondary treatment is possible but it would have to be a long-term goal,'' he stressed.

"We would have to discuss it with the Government as it would be a major, major undertaking.''