The court yesterday heard how the drainage problem in Balluta Bay is “almost solved” with a radical decrease of the faecal coliform count from around 30,000 to 791.

Principal Health Inspector Malcolm Vella Haber was testifying before Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani in the case initiated last month by the Health Department against the Water Services Corporation (WSC).

The WSC is being charged with allowing a stoppage in a main sewer that eventually led to drainage seeping into Balluta Bay in St Julian’s.

The bay was closed for bathing on 13 August when drainage was seeping into the sea and was reopened on 29 August after tests showed it was safe again.

However, on 4 September, the Health Department issued another warning and once again closed the bay to bathers.

Last week, the court heard how both parties agreed that the main problem stemmed from a particular manhole especially after tests confirmed that the leakage originated from there.

However, the Health Department said that the manhole was filled with drainage and, as a result, was the WSC’s responsibility. In turn, the WSC claimed that this manhole was not on their maps and that it was a water culvert that was not used for drainage.

As a result, Magistrate Padovani ordered court expert Valerio Schembri to examine this manhole.

In his testimony, Mr Vella Haber said that the Public Health Department are taking samples daily and that they are satisfied with the last set of counts.

He told the court that on 12 September, they opened two manholes just next to the kiosk in Balluta and found a huge drainage stoppage.

However, he added, on 17 September the stoppage had been removed and sewage was flowing into the mains.

Mr Schembri yesterday told the court that on Saturday, he went on site to make sure that no households were still connected to the old sewer.

He said he went there at around 8pm. Workers had been there since early morning digging carefully around the old sewer and added that they had encountered several difficulties due to various underground cables.

Mr Schembri said that they decided to fill part of the pipe leading to the sewer with cement as the inflatable temporary stopper closing off the sewer would not have held for much longer and all the work achieved last week would have been lost.

Last Monday, he added, they discovered that the drainage was oozing out into the sea through a large crack situated close to one of the manholes.

Mr Schembri said that he got the go-ahead from the WSC to fill the hole with concrete.

Magistrate Padovani then asked what can be done to ensure that the old sewer will no longer cause any problems.

Mr Schembri explained that it will be very difficult to actually examine the pipe leading to the old sewer because the road will have to be closed for about a fortnight until all the pipes are tested.

However, he pointed out that a more feasible, and also effective, idea would be to let some time pass and then eventually inject a dye in the mains.

The case was put off until 12 October. Magistrate Padovani told Mr Vella Haber to carry out a colour test a few days before the next hearing and to continue taking sea samples daily.

Principal Health Inspectors John Attard Kingswell and Malcolm David Micallef are prosecuting while Dr Guido Pace Spadaro appeared for the WSC.