[영국] 서던워터, 가구·사업장 하수관거 오연결 탐색 … 지난해 60개 건물 식별

서던워터(Southern Water)는 자사의 오연결 전문 조사팀이 수십 가구와 사업장에서 하·폐수를 하수도 대신 지표수 배수구로 직접 보내고 있음을 발견했다고 밝혔다.

부주의한 개발자와 무역업자로 인해 하·폐수를 폐수 처리장으로 옮기는 대신 집이나 직장 폐수관을 지표수 전용 배수구에 오연결될 수 있다.

지난 1년간 잘못 연결된 배관 60개 건물을 식별함으로써 전문 조사팀은 올해 수백만 리터의 미처리 하수가 우리 환경에 유입되는 것을 방지했다.

전체적으로 팀은 문제가 있는 변기, 샤워기, 세면기, 식기 세척기, 세탁기, 욕조 및 주방 싱크대와 관련된 265개의 개별 문제를 발견했다.

대부분의 경우 소유주가 수리했지만, 일부 경우에는 서던워터가 개입하여 직접적인 조치를 취해야 했다.

지난 1년 동안 켄트(Kent)에서는 33개, 서식스(Sussex)는 8개, 햄프셔(Hampshire) 및 와이트섬(Isle of Wight)은 19개의 하수관로가 오연결되었다.

팀이 구성된 2019년 1월 이후, 224개의 잘못 연결된 건물 발견되었으며, 739개의 개별 문제를 식별해 700만 리터 이상의 하·폐수 유입을 막았다. 

이 활동은 환경을 개선하고 보호하기 위한 서던워터의 지속적인 노력의 일부로 서던워터는 성과를 개선하기 위해 2020년에서 2025년 사이에 20억 파운드(가구당 약 1천파운드)를 투자하고 있으며 그 중 상당 부분은 하·폐수 처리관로에 투자한다.

서던워터는 올해 오염을 최대 40%, 향후 3년 동안 80%까지 줄이기 위해 노력하고 있으며, 또한 우수 월류수에 대한 영국의 의존도에 대한 혁신적인 자연 기반 및 공학적 솔루션을 찾는 물 산업을 선도하고 있다.

[원문보기] 

Southern Water hunts down wrongly plumbed homes and workplaces

A specialist Misconnections Investigation Team has discovered dozens of households and business premises across our region have been sending their waste directly into surface water drains instead of sewers.

Careless developers and tradespeople can wrongly connect home or workplace waste pipes straight into drains designed for surface water only, instead of wastewater being carried away to our wastewater treatment works.

By identifying these 60 properties over the last 12 months with incorrect plumbing, the team has prevented millions of litres of raw sewage from entering our environment this year.

In total, the team found 265 individual issues, involving problem toilets, showers, hand basins, dishwashers, washing machines, baths, and kitchen sinks.

Most of the properties were fixed by their owner after we made them aware, but in some cases Southern Water had to step in to take direct action – particularly when the connection was located off property boundaries.

Over the past year, in Kent, 33 misconnected properties were identified, in Sussex 8, and in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 19.

Since January 2019, when the team was set up, 224 misconnected properties have been found, with 739 individual problems, including more than 100 offending toilets.

As a result, more than 7 million litres of household waste has been removed from the environment. A single toilet can discharge more than 20,000 litres a year.

Rob Butson, Misconnections Manager at Southern Water, said: “When the team started work, the only way to track misconnections was by placing cages in drains to look for evidence of toilet paper. But the teams are now issued with electronic ‘Fluidion’ testing devices which measure telltale chemical traces of wrongly connected facilities allowing more to be found and investigations to be quicker.

“Bringing new technology to the task of tracking down these sources of pollution is truly game changing. Each time a connection is rerouted, pollution is instantly cut improving bathing water quality and protecting wildlife and habitats.”

This activity is just one part of Southern Water’s ongoing efforts to enhance and protect the environment. We are investing £2billion between 2020 and 2025 (c.£1,000 per household) to improve our performance, with much of that being spent on our wastewater network.

We are committed to reducing pollution by up to 40% this year, and by 80% over the next three years. We are also leading the water industry in looking at innovative nature-based and engineering solutions to the UK’s reliance on storm overflows.

[출처 = SouthernWater(https://www.southernwater.co.uk/the-news-room/the-media-centre/2022/november/southern-water-hunts-down-wrongly-plumbed-homes-and-workplaces) / 2022년 11월 28일]