Southern Water issues apology after Worthing sewage leak

The company issued the following statement this morning *September 4):

“Southern Water would like to apologise for the problems at East Worthing Wastewater Treatment Works.

We can confirm we stopped releasing wastewater flows through the emergency, short sea outfall yesterday (the main release was stopped at about 4.10pm - there was another, shorter release, between 8pm and 9.30pm) and the site is now treating and releasing wastewater as it should.

Tankers which were transporting wastewater to other sites for treatment have also been stood down.“Staff have been working 24/7 at the treatment works since the problems began on Saturday night.

The problems began when there was a build-up of non-biodegradable debris which meant we were unable to pump incoming flows through the correct treatment channels. There were also electrical problems at the site.

Diverting wastewater into the sea, via the emergency outfall, was necessary to prevent localised flooding in Worthing. We worked closely with the Environment Agency and Worthing Borough Council on this issue and thank them for their assistance.

Repair work is continuing on site today and there will be a full investigation into the incident.

We are committed to making improvements at the site and a planned scheme is due to start this autumn.”

The Herald will have a full report about the sewage leak in Thursday’s (September 6) paper.