Exclusion zones have been set up around raw sewage that has flooded parts of Ryde Esplanade and flowed onto the beach following a pump failure overnight.
Local walkers arrived at Appley this morning (Sunday) to a strong smell of sewage with a fast flow of effluent cascading down steps and onto the sandy beach.
Southern Water says that the temporary pumping system that bypasses the collapsed sewer at Appley failed overnight, meaning it has not been properly shifting all of Ryde’s wastewater to the main pumping station.
To ensure the safety of the public, exclusion zones are in place in the immediate areas. This is in addition to the existing works which have been causing disruption in the area since January. A completion date for the repair project has not yet been given, but it is thought that work could continue until at least October.
A digger is being used to scoop up contaminated sand.
Engineers are said to be working quickly on the emergency repair and Southern Water is liaising with the Isle of Wight Council and the Environment Agency to minimise impact.
Reassurances have been given that the water company will clean up the area after the issue with the pumps has been resolved.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Southern Water has said:
”We are very sorry that the temporary pumping system bypassing the collapsed sewer at Appley beach failed overnight.
“This has resulted in some effluent escaping out of manhole covers on the promenade.
“To ensure the safety of the public we will set up an exclusion zone around the immediate areas.
“We are working quickly on the emergency repair and liaising with the Isle of Wight Council and the Environment Agency to minimise impact – we will clean up the area after the issue with the pumps is resolved“.
Lovely sunny sunday now this. It will cost them dear. No back up pump or failure alarm, no excuse.
All about profit Tony!
We get charged a fortune and Southern water do important jobs like this on the cheap
Just glad Ryde is not the nearest beach to me.
Could this event have any connection with the recent removal of the security hut close to the inshore rescue station? Does that imply that overnight monitoring of the generator was also removed?
This is key infrastructure for a town. As such best practice would be 24/7 monitoring of performance, an alarm system in place in case of such a failure
and a fail-safe back-up system. It will be interesting to see how SW explain this failure and more importantly the disgusting consequences.
Some ones in the $#!!+
All of us that used Appley seafront this morning!
Ryde always stinks like shite along that stretch anyway..I would guess its been leaking for years
Never mind, eh? All those proposed new homes will only make it worse.
I`d like to know why Southern Water have not been issued with an ASBO? They’re an absolute liability!