Dead chickens, sheep and other livestock together with farm supplies were found clogging the sewage mains in Żejtun after they were dumped by what authorities believe to be a negligent farmer.
Ivan Falzon, Water Services Corporation CEO, told Times of Malta the matter had been reported to the police after it was investigated by WSC staff.
The dumping was uncovered when the corporation was inspecting a blocked sewer in Tarxien Road on Monday.
“Unfortunately, large daily quantities of prohibited items are flushed into the sewer system causing havoc at our sewage treatment plants,” Falzon said, adding the report had first come in over the weekend and WSC workers were shocked by the discovery.
“Animal carcasses, sealed plastic bags, and other non-domestic waste were illegally disposed in our network causing inconvenience to users and unnecessary risks to our employees,” he said.
Falzon said the corporation believed that the waste was being dumped directly into the system by an unidentified farmer in the rural area of Żejtun.
The WSC sent out a crew to weld shut a number of manholes in the area, in the hope of deterring further dumping.
This sort of dumping can cause a lot of damage to the pumps used in the country’s sewage network, which can end up costing tens of thousands of euros, Falzon said.
Last year, the WSC’s largest sewage treatment plant at Ta’ Barkat in Xgħajra, which processes 80 per cent of Malta’s sewage, had to be temporarily shut down because of similar dumping.
The plant was clogged with all sorts of animal waste, ranging from a cow’s carcass, pigs’ heads and large quantities of fish believed to have originated from unlicensed aquaculture operations.
Falzon said that whenever this happens the WSC has to undertake a massive operation, involving cleansing the sewage gallery leading to the plant and pumping station, and the removal of tons of material causing the clogging.
Apart from resulting in raw sewage being discharged into the sea, the plant’s temporary closure impacts farmers as it halts the production of ‘new water’ – the term used for a class of water produced from wastewater used for agricultural irrigation.
“Don’t be selfish! Don’t dump in the sewers; it is that simple,” Falzon said.