Thames Water issues apology after Maple Cross sewage leak (From Watford Observer)

Thames Water issues apology after Maple Lodge sewage leak

1:50pm Monday 18th March 2013 in News By Ben Endley, Senior reporter

Thames Water has apologised for the "horrible mess" created by a sewage pumping station failure in Maple Cross last week.

The problem at the Maple Lodge sewage works last week saw the pumping station overflow, spreading untreated sewage onto nearby fields and into part of West Hyde.

Farmland to the west of the A412 was flooded with foul-smelling sewage but The Environment Agency is reporting that the pollution has not spread to nearby lakes.

Emergency contractors have been pumping the waste away from the site in Denham Way and Thames Water has been asked by Three Rivers District Council to write to affected residents explaining what happened and what is being done to rectify the situation.

A Thames Water spokesman said: "A pumping station at Maple Cross overflowed spreading sewage onto a nearby field.

"We used tankers to take away excess flows of wastewater and prevent further spillages.

"The levels of sewage have now dropped and we are currently cleaning up the area.

"Our engineers are investigating the reason for this spillage and we’d like to apologise for the horrible mess this caused."