Serious sewage spillage at Abbotts Walk and Redrow are making a mess of it!

Yesterday a sewer broke at Lea View in the Abbotts Walk area and according to one of the residents (Louise Kan) I spoke to today, sewage was covering a big area of Lea View and Mansfield Road. Residents were not (and many possibly still are not) aware of it and drove and walked through it, most likely carrying the unhygienic mixture right into their homes and spreading it further out onto other roads (also Francis Gardens). If you have been walking around the area, it is advisable to disinfect your shoes before you bring them into your house.

Here is Southern Water's advice on how to deal with wastewater spillages:

• Wash and treat footwear with a mild disinfectant
• Keep children and pets out of the contaminated area
• Wear rubber gloves when clearing up and look out for sharp objects
• Always wash your hands
• In the unlikely event of feeling unwell, contact your GP

Mrs Kan tried her best to alert some neighbours and also tried various ways to find somebody to get this cleaned up in a responsible way but to not much avail so far.

Mrs Kan contacted Redrow who sent out a road cleaning vehicle to mop up the spillage. However, it looks like a disinfectant was not used. As the roads are not yet adopted, Southern Water (who would normally be responsible for a clean-up on public roads) is not getting involved. Their policy is to have a spillage like this cleaned up within 24 hours and also to have the area disinfected to minimise health risks to the public:

If the flooding is caused by a problem on our sewerage network, we will

• Carry out an initial external clean-up where possible within 12 hours for internal flooding and 24 hours for external flooding
• This includes removing excess liquid, cleaning debris, applying household disinfectant – this will remove all traces of bacteria within 24 to 48 hours
• Clear gardens of water and debris. (Bacteria are best killed by natural exposure to the sunlight’s ultra violet radiation)
• Clean and disinfect hard surfaces such as paths and drives.

This cannot be the first sewage problem that Redrow have come accross, you would assume there are similar policies and procedures to follow.

Ward councillor Dominic Hiscock who was also onside this morning, speaking to Mrs Kan and the staff at the Redrow office, contacted the department of Public Health. Mrs Khan also contacted local papers (Daily Echo and Hampshire Chronicle) and Hampshire MP Steve Brine to get this spillage the attention that it needs.

While we were talking about the spillage we could see workers mowing the grass in the affected area, apparently not having been made aware of the health risks. Then a bulldozer with a special load arrived:

Its 'shovel' had been loaded with water which was now released onto the road. While this will make sure that the sewage remnants will not dry out too quickly and rise as dust particles into our noses to be inhaled, it also makes sure that the sewage is going to be spread further, as the water flowed down into Mansfield Close. If you can, try to avoid walking around these roads and roads nearby.

Update 1: please also see this article by Mr Kan for more detail - WHAT’S THAT SMELL?!

Update 2: Redrow have promised to disinfect today (Monday)! (It seems when you involve the papers things all of a sudden move a bit more efficiently. Quite sad really but well done to Mrs Kan!)
Here's today's Hampshire Chronicle article: Sewage overflow at new housing development in Winchester