The incident allegedly occurred after a pump was installed to ease pressure on the station following heavy rain.
One of those affected, St Mary Constable John Le Bailly, claimed that water running out of his taps turned brown and his animals, who drink from the stream, experienced significant ‘stomach issues’.
The watercourse runs from Rue des Varvots in St Lawrence and normally passes through a reservoir in St Peter’s Valley. However, Jersey Water have said the sluice gates in the area have been set to direct the water directly into the sea since December and bypass the reservoir.
When questioned about the incident, a government spokesperson made no reference to the sewage being pumped into the stream.
However, a resident, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed he had spoken to staff from the department about the pumping operation. The resident added that they had told the department to warn those living downstream about the issue but, as of yesterday, he claimed they had not done so.
Mr Le Bailly said: ‘With the rain being the way it was I just thought it was the weather that had caused it but I have only learnt of the seriousness of what happened as of late. It all adds up now.
‘We have a spring that we rely on for our domestic water supplies and there is an overflow pipe that spills into the stream. But when the stream reaches a high level it backfills into the spring.
‘We noticed that the water coming out of our taps had turned brown so we are going to have to have some tests done.
‘I would not be able to believe it if the Infrastructure Department [IHE] had pumped raw sewage into the stream – if it had been me doing it then I would have been liable and probably taken to court. It is really fortunate that this has not caused someone a serious disease.’
Mr Le Bailly added that the incident had reinforced his belief that all of the Island’s properties should be connected to mains water rather than having private boreholes.
A spokesperson for Jersey Water meanwhile moved to reassure Islanders that the spill had not made it into the reservoir – which is currently out of service – and drinking water was not affected.
‘Jersey Water was notified [Monday] lunchtime by the IHE Department of the sewage spill.
‘All reports of pollution we take very seriously and as such sent a team out to investigate the spill, volume, flows and complete a risk assessment to Island water supplies,’ he said.
‘Fortunately, the steams that feed into our catchments in this area were already in “bypass” mode meaning that water flows past our reservoirs and not into them.’
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Infrastructure, Housing and Environment Department, which allegedly used the pump, made no reference to the stream but did admit that a spill had occurred.
‘Due to recent heavy rainfall resulting in a high water table the sewer system at our La Retraite Pumping Station has become overloaded and we have a case of ground water flooding the network and escaping out of manholes in the area. This has caused some drains to a number of properties to back up,’ they said.
‘This will contain some sewage however it will be extremely dilute. Our teams are investigating the incident and once the flow dies down we will look at what repairs need to be carried out.’
