A sewage treatment plant that was forced to shut down operations after animal waste clogged it up is back up and running.

The Ta’ Barkat plant was cleaned of the illegally dumped waste that forced it to halt operations on Wednesday and is expected to resume creating  New Water – filtered water that is used for agriculture – by Saturday.

The Xgħajra plant was shut down on Wednesday after a massive influx of animal waste clogged up many of its systems, with the Water Services Corporation saying it would be reporting the damage to the police.  

It is not the first time the plant has suffered such damage, with a similar incident also reported back in 2015. 

Tonnes of waste was removed in the clean up of sewage gallery leading to the plant, the emptying and clean up of the receiving pumping station and its five two-metre high pumps, the de-blocking of the fine screening equipment, and a general clean up of other areas that received such waste.

Thankfully, the plant’s screening equipment worked as intended and the plant’s core infrastructure was not damaged.

In a statement, the Water Services Corporation said that its crews had managed to restore the plant three days ahead of schedule. WSC CEO Richard Bilocca said he couldn’t thank the Barkat Sewage Plant team enough for their hard work in dangerous conditions.