MHK Tim Johnston, the chair of Manx Utilities, says that the authority will not be extending the outfall pipe in Laxey, which was one of the solutions for cleaner bathing water.

This was confirmed in Tynwald this week when Garff MHK Daphne Caine asked Mr Johnston what consideration the authority has given to extending the Laxey bay sewage outfall pipe.

In response, Mr Johnston said one solution is to take the discharge out to a point where it is no longer having an impact on bathing water by extending the outfall pipe. This is estimated to cost £8 million.

He says the alternative is to reduce levels of bacteria to acceptable levels through ultraviolet treatment, which would cost £600,000.

He said that as both options are predicted to achieve the excellent bathing water standard Manx Utilities is looking into the UV option.

The chosen treatment method uses UV light to kill or inactivate microorganisms.

However, he pointed out that during storm events this is not the case as an unacceptable level of bacteria is predicted to be present in the bathing water.

Mrs Caine asked if he accepted that there was predicted to be a very high level of storm events at Laxey and that bathing is a year round activity.

Mrs Caine then asked: ‘Is Laxey not worth £8 million?’

Mr Johnston responded that the discharge coming out of the river will be of an excellent standard, and that high levels of storm water is not something that Manx Utilities can solve.

He said: ‘As far as storm surge, you have to remember that when you have those kinds of conditions, there will be all sorts coming down the river which have got nothing to do with sewage.

‘If someone wants to swim in those conditions that is up to them, but that is not something that Manx Utilities or any sewage system could solve.’

He says that the cost of an extension of the outfall pipe, and the environmental damage that will come out of that is not viable.

The UV treatment will be part of the Cairn treatment site in Laxey, with Mr Johnston saying that given the planning permission goes through this year, construction could start January 2024.

This came as a response to a second question by Mrs Caine to Mr Johnston, where she asked when the authority will start installation of storm water storage and UV treatment at the Cairn site in Laxey and at Glen Garwick.

UV treatment will not be installed in the Glen Garwick site as the ‘storm discharges do not prevent the bathing water quality targets being met’, Mr Johnston told the Isle of Man Courier.

Mr Johnston said that work will start until all planning approvals havve been made in the Garff sewage treatment scheme to minimise the risk of aborted work.

He added that the design is well progressed for the required infrastructure of the Cairn site and is underway for Glen Garwick.