St Sampson’s fire main is leaking almost 40,000 litres of water a day, investigations have shown. More tests will be carried out on 21 and 22 August to determine whether the contractor, T. J. Brent Ltd, will have to pay for repairs under the terms of the contract.

Deputy Dave Jones raised concerns in the States about the extension and the fact that the six-year warranty, which ends in September 2007, would run out before repair work had been undertaken.

The Fire & Rescue Service has never accepted the main.

‘Since my department became aware of the possible increased leakage, the jockey pump has been turned on and tests are now being carried out to the fire main on both North and South Side,’ said Public Services minister Bill Bell.

‘Initial tests on South Side have indicated the presence of a leak and further tests are being carried out to ascertain whether or not there are any further leaks.’

He added that results so far confirmed that water was leaking at just under 0.5 litres per second.

The untreated water is coming from Longue Hougue and no charge is being made.

‘While the tests are being carried out, it would be wholly inappropriate for the States to jump to any conclusions without first investigating the problem and obtaining the facts,’ said Deputy Bell.

‘If the fault is down to the workmanship or materials used by the contractor, then the contractor will be called upon to effect repairs. If, however, the fault has been caused by something outside the contractor’s control or responsibility, then it will not be liable.’

The tests will include a CCTV survey of the pipe and, until concluded, he said that no reasonable body could give the assurances sought by Deputy Jones that the contractor would have to fix the fault at no expense to the States.

Public Services inherited responsibility for the St Sampson’s Harbour pumping station and fire main from the former Public Thoroughfares Committee.

Prior to that, a settlement had been reached with the contractor which accepted responsibility for any latent defects for the whole scheme, including the fire main, for six years from 23 September 2001.

‘A major concern to both my board and the Home Department was in respect of the fire main,’ said Deputy Bell.

‘It has not been completed to the specification originally required in the contract. The volume of raw water leaking was in excess of the stipulated criteria.’

Home minister Mike Torode said that the extension to the fire main was not operational and he understood it would be uneconomic to reinstate it temporarily until the tests in August.

On Sunday, the Fire Service had to provide additional cover at the scene during unloading of petroleum spirit, at a cost of £725.

A further cargo is expected early in August.

‘Major repair works will have to be carried out before the main can be used as intended,’ said Deputy Torode.

He added that the main appeared to have a leak, or series of leaks, which allowed water to escape, causing the jockey pump to operate approximately every three minutes to try and maintain operating pressure.