Ballyhaise water supply taken off EPA’s remedial list

Concern Still half dozen more local schemes on list

Water consumers in the Ballyhaise area received good news last week after the local water supply was struck off the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Remedial Action List (RAL) but six other schemes in the county remain on the list.

Ballyhaise public water supply, which sources its supply from Annagh Group Water Scheme, has an estimated 675 users.

The EPA’s RAL identifies drinking water supplies’ at risk’ of failing to consistently supply safe, clean drinking water. The Ballyhaise supply had been placed on the RAL in 2019 for “inadequate disinfection”. The list is updated quarterly.

In July 2018, following advice from the HSE, supply users were issued with a’ Do Not Drink’ notice after water sampling showed a nitrite exceedance.

While the water could be used for personal hygiene, bathing, flushing toilets, laundry and washing of utensils, the notice did impact those using the supply for drinking, cooking and making up formula for bottle-fed infants.

Tankered water was made available for the near week-long duration the notice was in place.

It was the second such notice to be served on the Ballyhaise Public Water Supply and Annagh Group Water Supply in as many years, after users were issued with a boil water notice in October 2016.

That notice, sparked by the detection of coliform bacteria in the supply, was in place for more than a month.

At the time, Irish Water and Cavan County Council, said the notice was in place to “protect the consumers on both supplies”.

A programme of flushing, monitoring and sampling was carried out across the network before the notice was lifted.

At the time Irish Water announced it was investing €532 million on water and wastewater services in 2016, looking to address the greatest deficiencies in the country’ s water infrastructure.

Delivery of the plan would involve investment in drinking water and wastewater quality and capacity and new infrastructure, and run up to 2021.

The Ballyhaise public water supply was last week given the thumbs up by the EPA following upgrade works by Irish Water working in partnership with Cavan County Council.

Following upgrade works implemented, disinfection performance improved to the satisfaction of the EPA allowing the scheme to be removed from the RAL.

The move has been welcomed by Irish Water, which accepted six schemes still remain on the RAL in Co Cavan alone. Together they account for more than 22,000 water customers combined.

Schemes still on the list

They include the Bailieborough supply, an action programme for which is due to be submitted by Irish Water. A ‘Do Not Consume’ notice was imposed on the Bailieborough supply in December 2019, affecting over 7,785 customers including users in Mullagh, Killinkere and Virginia.

The issue was said to have been caused by fluctuating manganese levels in the drinking water source at Skeagh Lake, but an EPA report subsequently highlighted “serious deficiencies regarding management and control” at the local treatment plant.

“The water treatment plant has been in full compliance with the drinking water regulations since these issues were rectified. Automatic plant shutdowns and call out alarms for turbidity in the final water leaving the plant and which was subject to an EPA direction have also been installed and are fully operational,” a spokesperson for IW later confirmed to theCelt.

Others include Belturbet (1,926 population) and Cavan Regional Water Supply Scheme (11,448) where complete catchment-focused engagement actions involving IW and the “relevant stakeholders” are to be carried out in the hope of achieving compliance with the limits for pesticides.

Both are on a list of six priority catchment areas of particular concern where exceedances of pesticides have been noted as “persistent”, and EPA direction requires compliance by December this year.

A full water main replacement programme is on the cards for the ageing Swanlinbar supply, to improve security of supply, as well as reduce high levels of leakage and improve water quality.

The Swanlinbar supply (301 population) was subject to restrictions in July last year as a result of elevated chlorine levels detected in the local public water supply.

The EPA requires a response from IW on the proposed upgrade of the treatment plant in the west Cavan village by September 2020.

The final two remaining water schemes on the RAL in Cavan are Shercock (712) and Dowra Public Water Scheme (92), both of which are due to have a scheme of works confirmed by Irish Water. “Irish Water has not confirmed a RAL completion date. This is contingent on the planned operational review of the treatment plant, which is being operated by a private Group Water Scheme,” the EPA’ s most up-to-date RAL states.

Finally, in relation to the Gowna scheme (4,359), located in Co Longford, IW is working to improve operations at the water treatment plant to include the optimisation of “coagulant dosing”. This is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The Kingscourt water supply was removed from a the RAL in 2018 following the completion of a €3m investment, which saw the construction of a new water treatment plant, a new storage reservoir and an off-site well at Descart, Co Monaghan. However, problems concerning water pressure and hardness still persist, issues that have been raised with the IW and the council.

Irish Water says it is committed to addressing ensuring that all of its customers have safe, clean drinking water.

The semi-state utility adds that it continues to work in partnership with local authorities to address the issues affecting the water supplies, which remain on the RAL and to bring them to a standard where the EPA determines that they can be removed.