On a wastewater network, a discharge pump was damaged by lightning during a thunderstorm. The buffer tank used to store wastewater reached its maximum level, and then the effluents to be treated spilled into the river that empties into the Mediterranean Sea. The remote monitoring system in place did not operate properly due to a malfunction in the telephone network that occurred the very same day. The nauseating odour stirred reaction among the neighbours, who alerted the Mayor’s Office. As a precautionary measure, swimming in the sea was prohibited while awaiting the results of seawater analyses performed in order to detect any eventual trace of pollution.