James Debono The illegal dumping of pig slurry – the raw effluent from pig sties – in the drainage system has interfered with the treatment process in Cirkewwa’s sewage plant, causing a massive discharge of sewage into the sea in September.
“Pig breeders are dumping pig slurry that is high in nitrogen. And this causes problems at the Cirkewwa treatment plant,” a spokesperson for the Water Services Corporation told MaltaToday.
Since the sewage was already partially treated, the environmental impact of the sewage discharge was limited.
The WSC has advised citizens not to dump fats or oils which tend to “solidify and can cause blockages which in turn cause sewage overflows”.
According to the WSC, many thousands of litres of cooking oil are still flushed down the toilet illegally every year.
Other items which should not be thrown in the toilet include cotton buds and dental floss. Since cotton buds are hard to break down, they can cause pumps in the sewer network to fail, unnecessarily risking pollution.
Indestructable items that negatively affect the sewage system include hair clips and razor blades, which not only contribute to blockages in the system, but also risk injuring workers whose job it is to keep the sewers flowing.
Flushing leg ‘tights’ can also cause serious problems, particularly at sewage works where they can get tangled around pumps, disrupting the treatment process. Even coins sometimes find their way down the sewers, potentially blocking the system.
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