Park floods after sewers are ‘unable to cope’
Waste water and excrement are thought have leaked into an Edinburgh city centre park after the sewerage network was “overwhelmed” during recent extreme rainfall, Scottish Water has said.
On one of the warmest days of the year, West Princes Street Gardens was closed yesterday for a major clean-up operation after sewage and rain water flooded the park following a storm more than a week ago.
On July 4, the equivalent of two thirds of the average month rainfall fell in parts of Edinburgh – in just one hour – putting immense pressure on the city’s drainage and sewerage systems.
A spokeswoman for Scottish Water confirmed crews were investigating damage caused by surcharges from the sewer network, adding: “At times of severe heavy rainfall the network can be overwhelmed and anything in that sewer could be contained in the localised flooding.”
She added that the recent heavy downpours in the city caused levels of flooding “beyond Scottish Water’s control”. The company apologised for any inconvenienced caused to those wishing to use the park and explained it is due to reopen tomorrow.
Edinburgh City Council said the city's drainage and sewerage systems were not built to withstand such downpours, adding that it is developing a water management plan to prevent future flooding issues.
"We are going to see more of these extreme events so we need to take some action,” said Dr Kate Crowley, co-director of the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute.