Tankers pump out village waste as sewers inundated

The company said underground water had affected sewers in and around The Green

Sewage flooding after heavy rain has led a water company to move tankers into a Sussex village to clear out the waste.

Southern Water said local drains and sewers had become "inundated" in Southwick and has apologised for the disruption.

One resident posted on social media: "This is right outside my home. I tried to contact SW again today but so far no reply."

East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton has tweeted that he is awaiting an explanation.

Tankers are pumping sewage in Southwick

The company said underground water had affected sewers in and around The Green.

In a statement, Southern Water said: "Groundwater levels have risen to exceptionally record high levels following one of the wettest winter periods on record in 2023/2024. This is putting significant pressure on our local sewage network.

"We are making every effort to protect customers and the environment through this exceptionally challenging period.

"We have and continue to check in with affected customers on site and support them. We continue to thank them for their patience during this exceptional period."

Southern Water said teams had been "over-pumping" since 22 February

The company said teams had been on site since 22 February implementing "flow-management solutions" that included over-pumping from a foul sewer to a larger foul sewer, tankering away flows and regularly checking the sewer network to mitigate issues.

The statement said: “We have used tankers to remove the excess sewage and take it back to our treatment works.

"Traffic management is in place to slow the flow of vehicles and for health and safety reasons.

"The waterlogged ground and excessive heavy rainfall is the reason for this incident. We apologise for the inconvenience."

The incident comes weeks after talks on water issues in West Sussex by councils, Southern Water, the Environment Agency and Water Resources South East led to an agreement by all parties that urgent action was needed.

The "summit" on 8 February was to discuss issues including flooding, water quality, sewage outflows and scarcity.

Areas for early action included implementing sustainable drainage solutions and helping householders to reduce water run-off from roofs.

Teams are moving waste from a foul sewer to a larger foul sewer