A sports and recreation company has been fined $6,500 for illegally disposing of hazardous substances into a public sewer, said national water agency PUB in a statement yesterday.
On March 5, an employee of Happy Fish Swim School 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. This caused a loud bang that startled residents in the Jurong East area.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force and PUB were alerted to the incident. No damage was done to the sewers and no one was injured, said PUB.
The agency said its investigation revealed that Happy Fish did not have written approval to discharge trade effluent into public sewers.
"It had disposed of 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.
These included a lack of secure facilities for proper storage of chemical products, no training or documentation provided to employees assigned to handle hazardous chemicals, and a lack of monitoring system to prevent and deter unauthorised access to stored chemical supplies.
Mr Maurice Neo, director of PUB's water reclamation network, said the disposal of hazardous substances into 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 workers maintaining the system.
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. They may contact PUB's 24-hour call centre on 1800-2255-782.
