A large amount of water was released into the sea off the Isle of Wight closer than it should have done - but Southern Water says it had been fully treated.
As we reported yesterday, some worries had been raised by sunbathers on the Isle of Wight at the weekend, who were concerned that sewage was being pumped into the sea.
According to the water supplier's website, unverified releases of water were made into the sea of the Sandown Bay area.
Now, Southern Water has told Isle of Wight Radio that due to a power outage at a Sandown water facility, fully treated water was released closer to the shore than usual.
It meant water that should have been released via a 5km pipe was wrongly discharged 1km from the shore.
The water supplier's Beachbuoy alert system now shows that six releases were made to bathing sites in the last 72 hours, at Shanklin, Sandown, Yaverland, Whitecliff Bay, Bembridge and Seagrove Bay.
Southern Water also added that the power outage led to a number of ‘false’ alarms to Beachbuoy on Sunday morning.
(Picture: Sandown Bay)
A Southern Water Spokesperson said:
“Due to a power outage affecting a water treatment facility in Sandown on the Isle of Wight, fully treated water was released closer to the shore than usual.
“This resulted in an alert on our Beachbuoy system, which provides near real-time information about releases of stormwater or wastewater in bathing areas, from approximately 1.15pm on Sunday (16). This was not a sewage spill as the water was fully treated. Releases returned to their normal pipe from 12.40pm on Monday.
“Investigations are ongoing to fully understand the circumstances. We continue to work closely with the local authority and Environment Agency.”
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