REAL estate developers in the Corporate Area will no longer receive approval for the use of soak-away pits in construction projects despite the fact that sewerage-line coverage in the capital city is a mere 30 per cent.

"Don't come to us with soak-away systems, we're not approving any," Water Resources Authority (WRA) managing director Basil Fernandez said yesterday.

"Nobody's getting soak-away pits if they apply for them," he emphasised, charging that wells in Kingston have been rendered unusable for the most part because of the high level of nitrates and bacteria that are present in the water.

According to Fernandez, more than 6.5 million cubic metres of water is being lost in the Corporate Area every year because of domestic soak-away pit contamination.

Speaking to reporters and editors at the Observer's weekly Monday Exchange meeting, Fernandez argued that it could take between five and 10 years for the ground water to replenish itself if 70 per cent of the existing pits were put out of service.

"It happens over time, but we have to remove the source of contamination," he said.

Connection to National Water Commission (NWC) sewer lines, however, is not possible in all the city's residential communities as the service now covers only 30 per cent of the Corporate Area.

Fernandez nonetheless contended that there are alternative systems, such as the Bio-digester developed by the Scientific Research Council (SRC), that is being recommended to developers.

"It depends on the location and the geology to decide what is best," he said.

In the meantime, Fernandez is advocating a variable billing system where NWC customers are charged depending on the cost to supply water to their community.

He argued that is was unfair for people living in high-elevation communities to be paying the same amount for water delivery as those living on the flat.

"Why should you pump water to somebody who lives on top of a hill at the same rate as those on the flat?" Fernandez asked rhetorically.

Speaking against the background of the last increase approved by the Office Utilities Regulation, Fernandez contended that the cost to deliver water will have to be "looked at realistically".

Using Mandeville as an example, Fernandez said that water pumped into the Manchester town was being highly subsidised because of the energy cost charged by the Jamaica Public Service.