By Mal Butler
A river of sewage spewed into people’s gardens in the early hours of Tuesday morning as a burst pipe caused chaos in East Cowes. The water main burst in Millfield Avenue around 1am lifting up the road surface with a torrent of sewage running down Old Road.
One of the first on the scene was local councillor, Karl Love, who started knocking on doors to let people know what was happening.
He said: “I was contacted about 1.45am and I was out alerting and getting neighbours up who were unaware. Words cannot express how I feel for the residents who are affected with gardens, and properties full of sewage in Old Road and no highway access in Millfield Road, leading to Holy Cross Primary School.”
The school closed on Wednesday because there was no emergency vehicle access, although Year Six pupils were still able to attend and complete a SAT exam.
Southern Water sent out engineers immediately they were informed, with pumps across the Island being turned off at Springhill as thousands of tons of sewage poured out.
A spokesman said: “To minimise environmental impact, we deployed tankers, sandbags and hay bales to manage flows while repairs were planned.”
The Environment Agency also put out a health warning advising against bathing at locations in Cowes and East Cowes.
As the day progressed workmen began hosing down and cleaning the nearby roads and gardens.
By yesterday afternoon a spokesman confirmed the clean-up and disinfection operation was continuing and added: “The burst sewer pipe was successfully repaired as scheduled earlier this morning, with the road reopening by 6am.
“We will continue to work closely with the Environment Agency and the Isle of Wight Council’s environment team to assess any impact.
“We would like to thank the community for their patience and understanding and we’re sorry for the disruption and concern this has caused.”
Isle of Wight Observer