Illegal connections team expanded in water quality drive
We are doubling the size of our team which finds and fixes private waste pipes illegally spilling into streams, rivers and even directly onto beaches.
Our Illegal Connections team will now contain a dozen skilled engineers
This follows major successes in locating problem homes and businesses which have been negatively impacting local environmental water quality.
Darko Zlatarek, team manager, said:
“Careless builders have created major problems for bathing water quality by plumbing new loos and utility rooms straight into surface water drains instead of the foul sewer.
“Since 2019 our teams have fixed enough issues to prevent 4 million litres of wastewater from hitting beaches – from nearly 1,000 sources, including toilets in around 300 properties. With more teams, we can cover more ground – and they also spot other potential problems on the patch they cover.”
Darko continued:
“We can show real evidence that this work makes a difference. In Bognor Regis’ Aldwick Beach, for example, a spike in bad bathing water samples was clearly linked to surface water contamination by the Environment Agency. Since 2022, hard work to find and fix these problems has seen the bad test results practically disappear.”
Elsewhere, in Eastbourne, an illegal connection involving the toilet at a beach side café resulted in a pipe spilling through an outfall straight on to the beach.
The task of the ‘Sewage Sherlocks’ as some call them is painstaking.
Starting at the end of the line, in water courses or at outfalls, the team uses high-tech Fluidion devices to swiftly analyse water for contamination.
This device allows traces of e.coli to be analysed on the spot instead of being sent to a lab, but detective work is still needed to find the source, by tracking it back up the network.
Tactics include lifting manholes and using cages to catch debris, catching the scent of dishwasher or washing machine detergent, and a range of other techniques."
Darko added:
“Once located, homeowners and business owners are normally horrified to learn what has been happening, and are swift in getting the issue fixed. But these connections in the first place are illegal. If needed we can turn to local councils to use their enforcement powers.”