Plymouth hit by wastewater disaster

The coast of Plymouth was hit by water quality concerns after wastewater began leaking into the sea.

Earlier this week, Plymouth City Council warned local residents that sewage had been released from an overflowing pipe and was being discharged into the water.

The local authority confirmed that storm damage at South West Water's Plymouth Central Waste Water Treatment Works was the cause of the sewage leak.

Principal environmental health officer for the council Andy Netherton said: "Initial water samples identified very poor water quality immediately after the incident."

He added that recent samples showed that water quality improved and it is now safe for swimmers to return to the water.

"There is a risk to health if people come into contact with sewage," Mr Netherton commented.

Later this month, the Future of Global Water Technologies seminar will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, encouraging experts to look at solutions to treat wastewater and come up with ways to improve resource efficiency so that leaks like this do not occur again.

Posted by Joseph Hutton