Boil water notice is lifted

FOLLOWING advice from the Health Service Executive, Irish Water and Mayo County Council have confirmed that the boil water notice which was issued for the area supplied by the Ballycastle Public Water Supply and the Corrower/Sea Road and Lisbrin Group Water Schemes in October has been lifted with immediate effect.

The boil notice was put in place following the detection of cryptosporidium in the supply.

Irish Water’s drinking water compliance and operational experts worked with colleagues in Mayo County Council to resolve this situation as soon as possible by improving the protection of the groundwater source and by thoroughly cleaning the reservoirs and network.

Following the detection of cryptosporidium, the EPA carried out an audit of the treatment plant and sampling and testing of the scheme was carried out regularly. The results of the suite of tests were reviewed collectively by all agencies involved today and no further detections of cryptosporidium were found during this time. There were also no reported cases of illness in the community.

However, customers in this area should note that the level of treatment provided at the Ballycastle Water Treatment Plant does not provide adequate protection against cryptosporidium. Irish Water and Mayo County Council are advising customers that in the absence of a validated cryptosporidium barrier that there is a risk of further cryptosporidium detections in the supply.

If this scenario occurs, it is possible that the boil water notice may be re-imposed and remain in place until the scheme is connected to the Ballina-Lisglennon Public Water Supply. Works to secure this connection are at a preliminary stage with an estimated completion date of late 2019.

Irish Water will continue to monitor the supply closely for the presence of cryptosporidium and will liaise with the HSE on a regular basis.

Irish Water’s Asset Operations Water Lead for Mayo, Ger Greally, commented: “We are delighted to be delivering this good news today for the people supplied by the Ballycastle Public Water Supply, which also supplies the Group Water Schemes in Corrower/Sea Road and Lisbrin. We acknowledge the impact this notice had on the local community and we would like to thank them for their cooperation and patience while we worked to have it lifted. We would also like to thank our colleagues in Mayo County Council for working with us to ensure this notice was lifted as quickly as possible.

“Irish Water’s priority is the provision of safe clean drinking water and safeguarding that water supply for the future is a vital focus.”

Customers can now resume normal use of the water supply for drinking, food preparation and brushing teeth.

The Irish Water Customer Contact Centre (1850 278 278) is available to answer customer queries in relation to this water notice. Further information is available on the Irish Water website at www.water.ie.