After sewage debris – including dead rats sanitary towels and tampons – washed up on the shoreline of Langstone Harbour Southern Water has issued an apology. They say the recent bad weather and heavy rain was the main cause their system was inundated and failed.
Waste was discharged from an outfall pipe protruding from the Fort Cumberland treatment facility after the system was flooded. This caused the sluice gates to open and untreated water to escape into the harbour separating Hayling Island and Portsmouth.
Effluent and sewage sightings on the beach have been widely reported in the aftermath of the outpour. With many watersports enthusiasts dog walkers hikers and beach goers visiting and using the beach regularly the amount of rubbish has caused alarm.
Clean up teams have now removed much of the waste and Southern Water has gone to great lengths to highlight their spending of 30m to rectify the problem. The new sewage treatment system will not however be finished until the end of the year.
The environment officer for Langstone Harbour Board Louise McCallum said: Weve seen a variety of things – cotton bud sticks female sanitary products and also hypodermic syringes. Lots of very unsightly waste.”
Geoff Loader the director of Southern Water said: We have screens at Fort Cumberland that remove this debris from the wastewater – but they were initially damaged in a storm a couple of years ago.
A complete rebuilding process at that plant was overtaken by the weather before it could be completed.
The company also added: We regret and apologise for the current situation and are committed to making major improvements to the site. We are currently working on a 10m scheme to change the way storm-water enters the site which will ease the pressure on the screens making them more robust.
We are also part-way through a 20m scheme to radically change the Victorian sewer system in Portsmouth. The scheme will divert rainwater from Portsmouths sewers to ease the pressure on the system during storms.
