Kuwait Times

Published Date: August 25, 2009
By Hanan Al-Saadoun, Staff writer

KUWAIT: A wastewater recycling plant in Mishref malfunction yesterday, flooding the station and causing it to fill with poisonous gas. Firefighters responded to the incident but untreated sewage water from the plant is being released into street drains in the area. The problem occurred with the last three pumps at the station broke down. Ten other pumps have been out of service for some time. Minister of Public Works Fadhil Safar toured the problem plant yesterday, saying that the fault came from excessive
heat.

Maintenance staff are working round the clock to handle the build up of waste water, which has reached up to 14 meters. The overflowing sewage water has made it difficult for maintenance staff to repair the pumping equipment, which must be cleared of water and dry, Safar explained. The minister added that the maintenance workers are focusing on temporarily diverting the sewage water in the governorate to rain aqueducts.

No casualties have been reported among workers at the facility despite high levels of poisonous gas. The minister said there was no possibility of a leak of toxic gases or the incident does not pose a threat to public health.

The minister said that all the available pumping equipment in the ministry had been distributed to the governorate, while a number of pumps have been borrowed from oil companies and the Kuwait Fire Services Directorate (KFSD) to ease the flow of water coming into the sewage works and overcome the problem until the technical fault has been repaired.

Safar admitted that the incident is not a minor one and that the station needs a long time to be repaired and become operational. He said an investigation will be conducted to find out the reasons for the malfunction that led to the leak. He said the malfunction came as a surprise as the station was being monitored.