Efforts ongoing to improve drinking water supply to 45,000 Mayo people

IRISH Water has welcomed the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) Remedial Action List (RAL) update published this week which shows where works are progressing in Mayo for the benefit of over 45,000 people whose water supplies are on the RAL.

The Bonniconlon Water Supply, which was on the RAL for elevated levels of THMs has been removed from the list. Irish Water has confirmed that the supply has now been decommissioned and replaced with the Ballina-Lisglennon scheme.

While the Ballina-Lisglennon Scheme remains on the RAL for elevated levels of THMs, Irish Water expects works to be completed on this scheme in mid-2017.

Irish Water is continuing to work on the four schemes in Mayo which remain on the RAL to secure high quality reliable drinking water for over 45,000 people.

Nationally Irish Water has adopted a prioritised programme of works which will require an investment of €2 billion by 2021.

Significant improvements are being achieved year on year by this approach, including in Co. Mayo where there are no boil water notices in place.

Irish Water has put in place the first national THM plan and a prioritised programme of investment to address all inadequacies in drinking water parameters including THMs. By 2021 the utility plans to reduce the number of schemes on the RAL to zero with an investment of €327 million in upgrading water supplies at risk from THMs.

THMs, or Trihalomethanes are chemicals formed by the reaction of naturally occurring dissolved organic material and chlorine which is used for disinfection in order to protect against pathogenic bacteria.

Irish Water is upgrading the Ballina-Lisglennon water treatment plant and further optimising the disinfection system, to ensure the removal of this scheme from the RAL subject to approval of the EPA. These works are scheduled to be complete mid-2017.

There are three other water supplies in Mayo on the RAL and specific work such as improvements to operations in Kiltimagh, upgrading of the treatment plant in Iniskturk and an upgrade of the Lough Mask water treatment plant to increase capacity are on-going.

Speaking about the RAL and the ongoing work in Mayo, Irish Water’s Regional Compliance Specialist Pat O’Sullivan said: “The publication of the latest RAL update is a confirmation of the focus and dedication of Irish Water and Mayo County Council in ensuring the delivery of clean and wholesome water in the county.

“As a single utility Irish Water is able to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of Ireland’s drinking water production plants and where serious compliance challenges are found they can be tackled more effectively and efficiently. The decommissioning of smaller water treatment plants and rationalisation of water supply zones as has happened in Mayo could only be achieved by a single utility.”

The RAL is updated quarterly by the EPA for those water supplies where investment in treatment processes is required. Irish Water has a prioritised programme of investment for all schemes on the RAL and the current updated RAL which showed a reduction from 108 to 98 schemes is a reflection of this progress.