Tat Seng Packaging fined $12,000 for discharging toxic water into public sewer
Mainboard-listed printing company Tat Seng Packaging was fined $12,000 for discharging toxic industrial used water into the public sewerage system, PUB said on Monday (19 March).
Seventeen other companies were also fined a total of $100,500 for similar offences from November 2017 to February 2018. They were each fined between $2,000 and $13,500.
PUB said that on 25 September 2016, it detected an abnormality in the used water at Kranji Water Reclamation Plant. Investigations showed that Tat Seng had discharged “black and turbid” industrial used water into the public sewer containing copper that was up to three times more than the allowable limit for the regulated metal.
Tat Seng pleaded guilty to three charges for the illegal discharge of industrial used water with excessive regulated metal and chemical substances, with one charge taken into consideration during sentencing.
The company was previously caught for similar offences on four occasions between 2012 and 2015 and was penalised.
“PUB takes a serious view of the illegal discharge of hazardous substances into the public sewerage system. Public sewers convey used water to the water reclamation plants for treatment before safe release into the environment, or for further purification into NEWater. Hazardous substances in the sewage endanger the lives of our staff, upset our treatment processes and negatively impact the quality of feedstock for NEWater production,” said Maurice Neo, PUB’s Director of Water Reclamation Network.
