NI Water Statement – Dundrum Sewer Network Failure

11 November 2022 10:49

NI Water has been fined £3,000 plus £15 offender levy in relation to a pollution incident in Main Street, Dundrum on 14 April 2021.

In a statement, an NI Water spokesperson said, “NI Water takes its responsibility to the environment with the utmost seriousness, helping make our rivers and beaches the cleanest that they have ever been.

“Unfortunately, a blockage within the network of inappropriate wipes and sewer related debris caused an overflow pipe to spill into the sea.

“Staff acted quickly in responding to this incident, once NI Water was made aware of the spill, the blockage of inappropriate materials and silt was located and cleared.

“The initial emergency work was followed up with a full desilt of the sewer and further removal of inappropriate items which should reduce the risk of this happening in the future. 

“However, no amount of investment or work will completely stop blocked pipes if people continue to flush wipes (including those labelled as flushable), sanitary items and cotton buds down the toilet.  We need our customers to help us in this battle by being mindful of what they flush.  The clean up of the shore involved removing thousands of wipes and ‘rags’ which had come out of the overflow pipe. 

“NI Water treats 340 million litres of waste water every day through a network which comprises over 15,000 kilometres of pipes and more than 1,000 wastewater treatment works.

“The extent and size of the network we operate means there is a risk of pollution incidents of this nature occurring.  For this reason, the company is set stringent targets by the Utility Regulator to reduce pollution incidents.  Whilst these targets have been consistently met and exceeded, on those occasions when an incident does arise, we review it to see what actions can be taken and what we can learn from it to prevent it happening again.”

ENDS

Media enquiries to press.office@niwater.com