Pollution Incident - Annsborough / Carrig River

11 October 2016 15:50

“NI Water can confirm the pollution incident affecting the Annsborough/ Carrig River on Saturday was due to an accidental discharge of polyelectrolyte, which is used in the sludge thickening process, from Annsborough Waste Water Treatment Works (WwTW).   We are very disappointed and extremely sorry this incident has happened. 

“The cause of the discharge was identified and immediately fixed on Saturday evening and there is no further risk to the river.  The immediate focus now is on working with NIEA and local anglers to assess the impact and the needs of the river in terms of re-stocking the fish. 

“NI Water manages and maintains over 1,000 wastewater treatment works and over 1,200 wastewater pumping stations and we collect and treat approximately 330 million litres of wastewater every day and return it safely to the environment.   The collection, pumping, treatment and disposal of sewage sludge is a complex and energy intensive operation.  The failure of any of these elements can cause a pollution incident. 

"It is always our aim to protect the environment we operate in.  When an incident such as this occurs, our primary aim is to investigate what happened and identify how we can prevent it ever happening again.

"NI Water was the first public body in Northern Ireland to have earned International ISO 14001 status for all its activities.  This is an international quality assurance award based on a company’s environmental management system."