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An investigation into whether the Water Pollution Law was breached when a problem at the Bellozanne plant led under-treated sewage to flow into St. Aubin’s Bay is still ongoing three months later.
Concerns about the quality of water in the Bay saw ‘no swimming’ advice issued on Wednesday 14 June.
Testing of undiluted samples taken from around First Tower – the location of the Sewage Treatment Works outflow pipe – was revealed to be “poor” by EU Standards.
Video: Outflow in St. Aubin's Bay in June.
However, the advice was lifted on Saturday 17 June, with the Government stating that a bathing water sample taken from the area on Friday 16 June was "excellent".
At the time, Government officials said that the problem at the plant was caused by the warm weather and lack of rain, as well as insufficient "organic matter" flowing through the plant for the bacteria used in its chemical processes to function properly. This meant that the sewage was treated to a lower standard than usual.
Although the facility has been running as normal since the incident, a Regulation team has been formally investigating what happened under the Water Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000. Water pollution incidents can carry an unlimited fine.
The Government confirmed yesterday that the investigation is still ongoing.
EU standards define 'Excellent' quality as less than or equal to 250 Escherichia coli (a type of illness-causing bacteria) per 100ml, 'Good' is less than or equal to 500 E.Coli, and 'Poor' is above 500.
The undiluted sample taken from First Tower on Thursday tested as 630 E.Coli per 100ml (Poor). A diluted sample reading has not been provided.
A bathing water (diluted) sample taken on Friday tested as 55 E.Coli per 100ml (Excellent). An undiluted sample reading has not been provided.
You can find the latest water quality results here.
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Pictured top: Signs were put up in St. Aubin's Bay to caution against swimming when the sewage issue was discovered.
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