NI water problems: Children 'at risk playing close to raw sewage'

A muddy puddle of raw sewage close to where children play in the village of Galgorm

Children are playing close to raw sewage lying on open grass in a County Antrim village, a local resident has said.

Paul Leonard from Maine Park in Galgorm, near Ballymena, said it was "a dangerous ongoing problem".

Sewage issues began last May, but have become worse in recent weeks.

NI Water crews worked to clean the area following recent complaints. They said people were flushing inappropriate items into the system.

But Mr Leonard said: "It's dangerous to the kids… they don't know any better, they see a dirty puddle and run into the middle of it.

"They say it's all the wet wipes in the sewers, but you're talking to people and you would think the pipes should be able to cope with it."

Paul Leonard said children were playing close to raw sewage in Galgorm village

He also believes the sewage runs into a nearby stream and further down the river.

NI Water said people were flushing inappropriate items down the toilet which then enter the sewer system.

"If people continue to put inappropriate items down our networks that will cause restrictions and that will further compound where we already have constraints," said Gary Curran from NI Water.

However, the legacy of years of underinvestment in Northern Ireland's water and sewerage structure is causing problems for both householders and building companies.

NI Water said the ageing sewerage system was "a big problem"

Wastewater systems in more than 100 towns and villages are already operating at or above capacity.

Last week, TUV leader and North Antrim politician Jim Allister told the Northern Ireland Assembly that a lack of capacity and "substandard infrastructure" was having "real, lasting and damaging practical consequences" on building work in his constituency.

"We have a series of villages where the capacity has been reached and where, in consequence, for years there has been no new building possible," he said.

Mr Allister told the assembly that water infrastructure problems were having "real, lasting and damaging practical consequences"

He said Infrastructure Minister Nicola Mallon previously said that the earliest that might change for areas including Armoy, Dervock, Mosside, Stranocum and Ballycastle was after 2027.

"That is just not acceptable. It is a consequence of funding inadequacies and arrangements that affect Northern Ireland Water," he said.

Last July, BBC News NI reported that a group of developers complained that a lack of capacity in water and wastewater infrastructure was stalling new building projects.

NI Water, which operates the water and sewerage system, has signalled its intention to invest £2bn over six years to update infrastructure.

At that stage, Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon had approved the funding for the first year of the plan at a cost of £179m.

Nichola Mallon approved full funding of £179m for NI Water but will the rest be available?

However, it is not clear if the Stormont Executive can fully fund the remainder.

The water system in Northern Ireland is mostly funded by government resources rather than consumer charges. In other parts of the UK, consumers foot the bill.

Mr Curran from NI Water said the ageing sewerage system was a "big problem", caused by a long-term lack of investment.

As a result, NI Water cannot allow extra properties to be connected to the network in many parts of Northern Ireland, he said.

"If we did do that, we could possibly experience environmental problems; some uncontrolled discharges into receiving water courses or failures in our water treatment works," he said.

"NI Water is trying to walk a fine line in protecting the environment on one hand, while enabling economic development on the other."

Developers say they have come up against water system problems on dozens of big builds

Mr Curran said that this is the first year NI Water has been fully funded but added that "significantly increased levels of investment" would be needed in the future.

Will Stormont continue to foot the bill for the water network?

"Funding will be difficult and we anticipate there will be problems in coming years," he said.

Developers urged to contact NI Water

Last October, Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon told the Northern Ireland Assembly: "The scale of the wastewater capacity issues across the north will realistically take at least 12 years to address.

"Without sufficient investment in Northern Ireland Water, we'll be at risk of breaching statutory environmental obligations and the ability of the economy to recover could also be affected."

Mr Curran urged developers working in places where there were problems because of the ageing infrastructure to contact NI Water as early as possible.

"We are available to work with developers on bespoke site-by-site options but there won't be a solution in every case," he said.

NI Water is government-owned and funded by the block grant provided to Stormont by the Treasury.

It outlines how much investment it needs in a plan that must be approved by the Utility Regulator - it is then up to the Northern Ireland's ministers to fund it.

Meanwhile, several house-building firms in Northern Ireland have formed a campaign group - Drains for Development - to raise awareness of what they describe as "the wastewater infrastructure crisis".

The group includes major developers such as Braidwater Homes, Fraser Houses, Lagan Homes NI and others.