NI Water fined £1k after sewage spill

NI Water fined £1k after sewage spill

1 January 2025

A SEWAGE spill in Annsborough in July 2021 resulted in Northern Ireland Water being fined £1,000 at Downpatrick Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard the incident related to the Ballybannon river in the village.

The court was told Environment Agency water quality inspectors confirmed that a “visibly grey and malodorous effluent” was discharging to the Ballybannon River via the overflow pipe serving the Mill Hill combined sewer overflow at Annsborough. 

The discharge was observed to be consistent with untreated sewage. 

The court was told that the inspectors’ observations were made during a period of prolonged dry weather.

Upstream of the discharge point, the river was observed to be running visibly clear, with an Environment Agency inspector collecting statutory samples of the polluting discharge.  

The court was told while the initial cause of the discharge in this case was a blockage, in turn caused by the inappropriate use of the sewerage system by a third party or parties, the Environment Agency contended that NI Water failed to deal with the discharge appropriately, allowing it to continue unnecessarily for a further period of time.