Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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4 | FEBRUARY 2017 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Industry news February Southern Water has been fined a record £2M aer sewage leaks at a pumping station in Margate, Kent, le a beach severely polluted. Maidstone Crown Court heard that the wastewater pumping station at Foreness Point suffered a series of failures in late May and early June 2012 which le it unable to cope during a spell of heavy rain. As a result, raw sewage poured into the sea, with local beaches closed to bathers for nine days as a result and requiring a clean-up operation costing more than £400,000. For the Environment Agency, prosecuting, area manager Julie Foley described the incident as "catastrophic", adding: "The failures to contain sewage resulted in risk to public health, polluted a considerable length of coastline, including numerous beaches, and resulted in a negative impact on Thanet. Southern fined record £2M a er pump failures lead to Margate sewage spill Contract Tracker Hibernia in Thames win Odour control specialists Hibernia have signed a major new services supply contract with Thames Water, covering 15 Thames Water sites in north and east London including Beckton and Crossness. The contract, which is expected to be worth at least £250,000, covers a minimum of 3 years with options to extend it up to an 8-year period. Mouchel takes Welsh work Mouchel has been appointed by Dwr Cymru Welsh Water to work on two key sustainable drainage plans (SDPs) as part of its AMP6 asset management consultancy framework. The plans, worth around £140,000, cover 14 rural water catchments in the north of Wales including the large town of Wrexham. These latest awards add to the 15 SDPs already awarded to Mouchel in South Wales which are centred around the towns of Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and Port Talbot. OHES secures Thames deal OHES Environmental has been awarded a 3-7 year contract to provide a water quality pollution response service to Thames Water. The service delivers a rapid response to assess the potential environmental impact of sewer network and asset failures. Because of these very major pollution incidents, damage was caused to the reputation of Thanet's designated bathing waters, bays and 'Blue Flag' beaches." The court heard that problems at the pumping station had been identified as early as 2010, and that discharges in early 2011 had previously led to a £200,000 fine being imposed. Even aer the subsequent 2012 incident, the issues were not resolved quickly enough to prevent further illegal discharges occurring in 2014, which also required beach closures. Judge Adele Williams decided to impose the £2M fine – almost double the previous record for a water company – in part because of these aggravating factors. "The message must go out to directors and shareholders that repeated offending of this nature is wholly unacceptable," said the judge. 13 The number of categories in this year's Water Industry Achievement Awards, to be held in Birmingham on 23rd May. For information and to book your table for the event visit wwtonline. co.uk/awards COLOURFUL JOB: Scientific staff are settling in at ALS Environmental's new water testing laboratory in Otterbourne, Hampshire. The laboratory, opened at the end of October, will test hundreds of chemical microbiology samples each day from Southern Water's operations. Speaking following the hearing, Southern Water Director and Chief Customer Officer Simon Oates said: "We apologise unreservedly for the failure of the waste water pumping station at Foreness Point near Margate. "Since 2012 we have invested £4M in the site and have a further £6M investment plan. We're working hard with partners such as the Environment Agency and Thanet District Council to ensure that the area's bathing water is cleaner than ever. Thanet's beaches are some of the best in the country, boasting seven blue flags and three seaside awards. Many now consistently achieve 'excellent' bathing water quality alongside 'excellent' status in tourism surveys. "We will continue to invest in the site and work with our partners to ensure Thanet's bathing waters are clean now and in the future."