After decades as the responsibility of States Works, the job of emptying cesspits is crossing over to Guernsey Water.
The utility was already responsible for the customer service and billing aspects of the cesspit networks but from this year on it will also be in charge of the scheduling of collections, the tanker operations, and driver management.
Those drivers – previously employed by States Works – will move across to Guernsey Water, meaning the only change cesspit customers will notice is that the branding on the drivers’ uniforms will change.
Work to bring the cesspit service fully in house will take place during 2026, as part of ongoing improvements to reliability, efficiency and customer experience, said Andrea Simpson, Business Change Manager at Guernsey Water.
“This is about change behind the scenes that will align customer service more closely with collection scheduling and tanker operations.
“Wastewater collection volumes won’t change, and the same number of drivers will still be required. Collections will continue as normal; the main visible difference will be the uniform worn by drivers, which will carry the Guernsey Water logo instead of States Works.”
Cesspit stats
Guernsey Water says the cesspit service is a critical part of the island’s wastewater infrastructure.
Each year, 36 drivers collect more than 500 million litres of wastewater from 5,500 customers.
This wastewater is then transferred to the sewerage network for safe disposal.
In 2025, Guernsey Water invested £2.8 million in 15 new tankers.
The utility said this increased reliability and reduced emergency collections.
Cesspit customers
The cesspit scheduling system was upgraded in 2022, to allow for real time data to be accessed from the drivers.
This coincided with the customer service duties being taken over by Guernsey Water, which enabled the combining of water, wastewater, and cesspit billing.
In 2024, the MyCesspit Portal was launched, giving customers direct access to schedules, account information and visibility over their collections.
Any customer who has not yet signed up to the MyCesspit Portal to manage their schedules and reduce unnecessary collections is encouraged to do so. Guernsey Water says it can save customers money and free up slots for others.