NI Water has issued an apology following a pollution incident that killed around 1,600 fish at Carrig River in Newcastle, Co Down.

The company confirmed it was caused by an accidental discharge of polyelectrolyte.

Polyelectrolyte is used in the sludge thickening process from Annsborough Water Treatment Works.

There is no further risk to the river.

A spokesperson from NI Water said: "The immediate focus now is on working with Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and local anglers to assess the impact and the needs of the river in terms of re-stocking the fish. 

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"NI Water manages and maintains over 1,000 wastewater treatment works and over 1,200 wastewater pumping stations and we collect and treat approximately 330 million litres of wastewater every day and return it safely to the environment. The collection, pumping, treatment and disposal of sewage sludge is a complex and energy intensive operation. The failure of any of these elements can cause a pollution incident. 

"It is always our aim to protect the environment we operate in. When an incident such as this occurs, our primary aim is to investigate what happened and identify how we can prevent it ever happening again."

(CD/MH)