Water quality taskforce set up
More information has been sought on Uisce Éireann’s new taskforce which has been established to improve water quality in Cork city.
Previously known as Irish Water, the company announced on 9 February that the taskforce was being established with a statement saying: “Acknowledging that water services in Cork city are not meeting the standards that customers rightly expect, Uisce Éireann is assuring the public that it continues to treat the matter with the utmost urgency, including following up with proactive callbacks to customers who have raised concerns over discoloured water.”
A number of protests have taken place in Cork due to discoloured water including on Monday at City Hall before a council meeting.
The statement continued: “The organisation recognises that, although the ongoing issues are having a significant impact on affected communities, it provides high-quality, clean and safe drinking water to over 125,000 people in Cork city every day, and based on 2023 reports to our call centre, it is estimated that discolouration affects just over 1 per cent of customers. Recognising that some people may not be reporting incidents, Uisce Éireann is reiterating its call for customers to contact them directly. Each call is investigated and actioned.”
Uisce Éireann also said it has invested more than €100 million in infrastructure improvements across a number of projects in recent years including the Lee Road Water Treatment Plant. These improvement works, including increased flood protection and a link to an additional back up supply from Iniscarra, have significantly modernised and improved the overall water supply infrastructure in the city.
Brian O’Leary, Uisce Éireann’s Regional Operations Manager for the South West, said: “Protecting public health is a top priority for Uisce Éireann. The treatment process used by Uisce Éireann at the Lee Road Water Treatment Plant is fully in line with water treatment standards used nationally and globally. Water services engineers and drinking water compliance specialists continue to closely monitor the water treatment plant, reservoirs and the water network that supply the city to ensure compliance with drinking water regulations.
“We continue to advise not to drink discoloured water. In the event of discolouration, running the tap for several minutes - we recommend up to 20 minutes - will usually restore water to a clear colour. The water is safe to drink once running clear. If the issue remains unresolved, we encourage customers to contact us directly.”
He continued: “Uisce Éireann provides high-quality, clean, safe drinking water to over 125,000 people in Cork City every day. In 2023 we received just over 1,600 calls to our customer care team regarding discolouration in Cork city.
“Recognising that some people may not be reporting incidents, we would encourage customers to contact us directly on the Uisce Éireann customer care helpline, open 24/7 on 1800-278278. This allows issues to be logged and investigated in a timely manner and provides us with accurate and real time information. Each reported issue is actioned and gives us a better understanding of any ongoing issues and allows us to prioritise the worst impacted areas,” he said.
The statement was circulated to the media a day before a protest was held in Cork city to highlight the ongoing issues some people are having with their water supply.
On Monday 12 February, People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry said he was writing to Uisce Éireann to request more information about the taskforce. It is understood he will ask Uisce Éireann to publish a list of the members of the taskforce, provide details of how often it will meet, ask whether minutes of their meetings will be published, whether they will be publishing a final report and whether there's a deadline for that report to be published.
The Cork North Central deputy deputy wants to know if the taskforce will test dirty discoloured water at source in communities and in the homes of complainants as opposed to just testing at the city's waterworks.
Deputy Barry will put forward a proposal that the taskforce include a water worker representative and a householder from a community that has been directly affected by the discoloured water.