A magistrate yesterday held an onsite inquiry at Balluta Bay in St Julian’s to inspect a sewer which, according to public health inspectors had caused a sewage leak into the bay earlier this month and a court expert was appointed to investigate the system “urgently”.

The Department of Public Health opened a court case against the Water Services Corporation (WSC) on Wednesday, holding it responsible for a stoppage in the main sewer in the area that had in turn caused the sewage leak.

After hearing principal health inspector Malcolm Vella Haber testify, Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani decided to visit the site to ensure that the situation was under control.

Three manholes and a tunnel opposite Le Meridien Hotel were inspected and the magistrate ruled that on first examination, there seemed to be quite a lot of material in the culverts, but the sewage seemed to be flowing quite well through the tunnel.

Testifying in court on Wednesday, Mr Vella Haber said the Department of Public Health had received complaints about the water quality at Balluta Bay, but WSC had denied that there was any problem.

When health inspectors visited the area on 13 August, together with WSC representatives, they found that “the manholes were filled to the brim with sewage”.

Health inspector John Seychell had poured a green dye into two manholes and a few minutes later, the sea turned luminous green, clearly showing that sewage was actually leaking into the sea.

The department has since been monitoring the situation on a daily basis and Mr Vella Haber told the court that the situation improved considerably, particularly last weekend. The bay has again been declared fit for bathing.

He said it was evident that the cause of the problem was the main manhole on the edge of the bay that got blocked because the water level in a nearby tunnel was too high.

After visiting the site yesterday morning, Magistrate Padovani appointed court expert Valerio Schembri to investigate the sewer using a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system.

She ruled it was important for the investigation to be carried out urgently, particularly since the area is a main tourist zone and the incident happened to fall at the peak of the tourist season.

The case was put off to 4 September.

The Department of Health Department was represented by health inspector manager John Attard Kingswell and Dr Guido Pace Spadaro appeared on behalf of WSC.