Around 40 Southern Water sewage tankers, later joined by nearly 40 more, have descended on Bognor Regis following a major sewage leak on Wednesday (May 17).
The tankers were sent to remove waste water to be taken away for treatment after the pipe burst north of the town, also flooding a field.
The Southern Water app states that sewage was pumped into the sea three times yesterday (May 18), however an eye witness told More Radio that it was several times that number of discharges.
Arun district council has erected signs on the beach asking the public not to enter the sea due to poor water quality.
Yesterday Alex Saunders, Head of Wastewater Networks at Southern Water, said:
“We’re sorry for the continued noise and disruption from our tankers in Bognor. We’re repairing a large sewer in a field north of town and we must use the tankers to take wastewater to our treatment works to be safely treated.
"This is a large and complex operation which must be done absolutely right to protect the environment. There are as many as 58 tankers operating from different pumping stations which feed the broken pipe delivering waste to three different treatment works. This is one of our largest ever tanker operations.
"We’re working as quickly as is safe but there are no shortcuts. We will keep our customers updated.”
In an updated statement on their website today (May 19) at midday, the water company stated:
“The repair to the broken sewer north of Bognor is complete. This has been a challenging and complex operation working through the night.
"The massive tanker operation – a record number for this type of operation - we put in place served its purpose and the repair was made without us being forced to release wastewater into the environment.
"We’re sorry for all the noise and disruption our 76 tankers are causing. Tankers are now moving out of the area. Some will be kept on our sites in the area as a contingency measure,
"No sewage was released to the sea during this operation.
"A clean up operation on the field close to the burst is now underway.
"We thank customers for their patience and apologise for the disruption we have caused.”
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