Sewage leaks into the sea at St Paul’s Bay could continue to occur sporadically until June, as works on the Pwales pumping station are expected to continue until spring, it has emerged.

The Water Services Corporation has confirmed to this newspaper that the recent sewage leaks in the area close to the primary school were caused by the pumping station – currently being repaired – becoming “overwhelmed by the storm water”.

“While WSC will do its utmost to limit as much as possible the recurrence and impact of such incidents, we apologise for the inconvenience these sporadic incidents might cause,” the spokesman said.

This newspaper reported earlier this month that raw sewage has for years been leaking into the sea at St Paul’s Bay, with reports of leaks once again streaming into the water in the past weeks.

Footage emerged last month of raw sewage polluting the sea at St Paul's Bay this morning, forcing the cancellation of a sailing club for youngsters.

According to a WSC spokesman, however, the leak was the result of the pumping station not keeping up with storm water coming from the Tax-Xama’ pumping station, which caters for waste-water collection in the St Paul’s Bay area.

“In response to this situation, the WSC Control Room switched on the latter station to relieve the Pwales pumping station, with Tax-Xama’ station overflowing into the sea for some minutes.

“When the Pwales levels returned to normal, Tax-Xama’ pumping station was restarted,” the spokesman said.

The Pwales pumping station is currently undergoing a major upgrade to make it more resilient during summer peaks and wet weather, the spokesperson added.

While residents and the locality’s mayor insisted that the leak has been a regular occurrence for years, the corporation spokesperson insisted that these were “exceptional situations”, occurring while the works on the station were carried out.

The works on the station should be completed by the end of spring, he added.