Pumping station fault costs £22k

A mechanical failure at Anglian Water's Filby pumping station in Great Yarmouth, which caused sewage to pollute a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), has cost the firm £22,896 in fines and costs

The incident, on 7 February 2012, followed attendance at the site by a contractor to clean the pump’s wet well.

Telemetry records show that no alarms were transmitted from the pumping station on that date between 11.58am – after routine maintenance – and 5.35pm, when a field technician arrived on site and found that the duty pump had failed.

Although the standby pump was running, it was not pumping, allowing sewage to be discharged to Ormesby Little Broad, which is part of the Broads National Park and an SSSI.

The agency said Anglian Water was aware of the potential of the Filby station to overflow, but had failed to take measures to prevent such incidents.