Northern Ireland Water (NI Water) has pleaded guilty to causing two pollution incidents at Glenmachen Street Sewage Pumping Station and from a combined sewer overflow (CSO) at Fane Street.

NI Water has issued a statement saying it believes that the fine of £1000 per incident reflects the court’s recognition that these incidents were the direct result of NI Water inheriting a vulnerable system and that it has cooperated fully with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency throughout the process. A NI Water spokesperson said,

“NI Water takes any issue of pollution very seriously and has taken steps to ensure similar incidents at Glenmachen Street Sewage Pumping Station and Fane Street do not happen again.”

The incident at Glenmachen Street Sewage Pumping Station took place on June 21st 2007 and was the result of a blockage at the pumps caused by inappropriate items being placed into the sewers, which the pumps are not designed to accept.  

The spokesperson continued,

“Glenmachen Street Sewage Pumping Station was built in the 1970’s and is beyond normal operating life, which makes it more vulnerable to breakdowns and incidents such as this. In addition, the foul pumps are susceptible to soft blockages as they are not designed to accept inappropriate items.

“Following the incident a new conditioning plant was installed at the Upper Falls Sewage Pumping Station which has reduced the potential for further blockages at the Glenmachen Street pumps.”

The second incident took place on September 19th 2007 and was caused by a combined sewer overflow (CSO) at Fane Street. NI Water links this to a long term lack of investment in the sewerage system in this area. Both incidents were designated as medium severity by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.  

Discharges from CSOs happen when the sewers are hydraulically overloaded and cannot cope with the volume of flow.  A CSO discharge avoids potentially more serious flooding from the network which may affect domestic properties or be a danger to health.  Discharges from CSOs occur during times of heavy rainfall or when there is a problem with a blockage or a restriction of the sewer downstream.

A spokesperson for NI Water explained, “The sewer at Fane Street was built in the 1930’s and has not been upgraded since then.  It is overloaded in wet weather and the sewer is laid in a flat gradient so it is liable to siltation in the area where the incident occurred.  NI Water is currently carrying out a feasibility study to upgrade the sewer in Fane Street and the Lisburn Road area in general.”