Swim school fined $6,500 for dumping chlorine powder illegally into public sewers
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On March 5, a Happy Fish Swim School employee had poured 45kg of chlorine powder into the sewer at its Jurong Gateway Road premises.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE
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SINGAPORE - A sports and recreation company has been fined $6,500 for illegally disposing hazardous substances into public sewers, national water agency PUB said in a statement on Monday (Dec 6).
On March 5, a Happy Fish Swim School employee had poured 45kg of chlorine powder into the sewer at its Jurong Gateway Road premises and used water from a fire hose to flush it down.
The substance interacted with organic matter in the sewage water, releasing a large volume of chlorine gas - causing a loud bang that startled residents in the Jurong East area.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force and PUB were alerted to the incident, which did not cause hurt to anyone or damage the sewers, said PUB.
It added that its investigations revealed Happy Fish did not have written approval to discharge trade effluent into public sewers.
"They had disposed hazardous substances into the sewers, instead of engaging a toxic industrial waste collector to do so," said PUB, adding that the firm was convicted of the offence on Nov 23.
Chlorine powder is commonly used for pool sanitisation and maintenance. It is highly reactive and corrosive and must be handled in a safe and proper manner.
Several safety lapses were also found on Happy Fish's premises concerning the proper use, storage and disposal of chemicals, the agency said.
These included a lack of secure facilities for proper storage of chemical products, no training nor documentation provided to employees assigned to handle hazardous chemicals, and a lack of monitoring systems to prevent and deter unauthorised access to stored chemical supplies.
Director of PUB's water reclamation network Maurice Neo said the disposal of hazardous substances into the sewers can adversely affect the operational integrity of the public sewerage system, disrupt the used water treatment process, and severely endanger the health and safety of the workers maintaining the system.
"Companies are responsible for ensuring that all trade effluent is adequately treated to comply with discharge requirements before being disposed into the sewers, and that hazardous substances such as used oil, spent solvents and leftover chemicals are properly segregated and collected by the appropriate licensed waste collectors," he added.
Under the Sewerage and Drainage Act,first-time offenders who illegally dispose of hazardous substances that may pose a danger to the safety and health of people or any part of any public sewerage system can be fined up to $50,000, jailed for up to 12 months, or both.
Members of the public are encouraged to report incidents of illegal discharge of non-compliant trade effluent or disposal of dangerous and hazardous substances into the sewers to PUB's 24-hour call centre on 1800-2255-782.
