Villagers are browned off with black water
NIALL ROHAN WAS ‘OBLIGED’ TO SIGN UP TO THE PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY, AT A SIGNIFICANT COST, BUT SAYS HE CAN’T DRINK IT AND WON’T WASH HIS BABY IN IT
A BALLYDESMOND family are suffering extreme water woes with no choice but to travel to Scartaglin on a weekly basis to stock up on gallons of fresh water as their domestic water is either “clear but stinks” or is “dark brown or black”.
And it’s the same for everybody else in the village. Niall Rohan lives with his wife, Aine, and six week old baby, Moira, at their newly built home in Ballydesmond which they moved into in February 2016.
Mr Rohan points out that, due to planning stipulations imposed by CCC, they were not allowed to sink their own well on site but instead had to join the local scheme at a “significant” cost.
“A new water system has been needed since 1991 – that is 26 years ago,” he told The Corkman.
“The water is just not drinkable. There is an awful smell off it.
“This is the same for everyone in the village,” he added.
An Irish Water spokesperson told The Corkman that land negotiations for the reservoir site are “progressing well” and, on completion of these negotiations, a planning application would be submitted to Cork County Council.
A FAMILY living in Ballydesmond village have to travel to Scartaglin every week to fill up on gallons of water as their own water supply is either “clear but stinks” or “dark brown or black”.
Niall Rohan lives with his wife, Aine, and their six-weekold baby, Moira, at their newly built home in Ballydesmond village, which they moved into in February 2016.
Niall says that, as per their planning conditions with CCC, they were not allowed to sink their own well on the site but instead had to join up to the local scheme at a significant cost.
However, since they moved into their new home, Niall says they have had to make the 30km round trip to Scartaglin every week to fill up on huge drums of water for drinking and general usage.
“We have to wash Moira with the water which we bring from Scartaglin as she can’t be washed in the bath due to the condition of the water here. This is particularly the case when there is heavy rain as the water is either brown, dark brown or black,” Niall told The Corkman.
Niall has already replaced the family’s kettle twice and says he is simply not happy with the quality of the water that the family had no choice but to sign up to.
“The water is just not drinkable. There is an awful smell off it. This is the same for everyone who lives in the village. It is a huge inconvenience for us having to go and fill up on water every week.”
Niall said he can clearly remember the last election when “residents were promised by candidates that the new water supply would be delivered by 2018”.
“Tenders have not gone out and there isn’t land purchased so the reality of us having a proper water supply is a long long way off. We are not happy about this, particularly as my planning stipulated that I had to join the public supply. This cost a significant amount of money but we are absolutely not getting what we paid for. There are countless other people in the village in the same boat and in particular elderly people,” he said.
In Ballydesmond a petition was signed to put pressure on Irish Water to finalise plans for a new supply scheme. While Irish Water has confirmed it is to spend €1.8 million to upgrade water supplies in both Ballydesmond and Kiskeam, residents are growing weary about this entire situation.
“A new water system has been needed here since 1991 and that is 26 years ago,” Niall said.
A host of questions by The Corkman were put to Irish Water which related to the condition of the water as well as the purchase of land and if the tendering stage was at any way nearing completion.
A spokesman for Irish Water said that “land negotiations for the reservoir site are progressing well and, on completion of these negotiations, a planning application will be submitted to Cork County Council”.
“Tender documents for the new water main at Ballintona to Ballydesmond were issued in March of this year and it is expected that a contract to carry out this work will be awarded in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson added.
He said that once all land acquisition and contractual issues are finalised it is expected that the work will then take one year to complete. “Some customers in the Ballydesmond area may have experienced issued with discolouration of the water following periods of heavy rain. This is as a result of the presence of the mineral manganese which occurs naturally in the area.”
He also outlined that the public water supply is subject to ongoing monitoring and auditing by the HSE and the EPA to ensure it is safe to drink.
He also said: “Irish Water apologises for any inconvenience as a result of this issue and wishes to assure customers that we are progressing the proposed upgrade of the scheme as a matter of priority in order to resolve it”.
He explained that it is proposed to decommission the existing public water supply at Ballydesmond and construct a new water main, which will connect the supply to the nearby Ballinatona public water supply.
The works will include the installation of a new water main linking the existing Ballinatona water scheme at Dromskarragh Beg to a new reservoir. A new distribution water main will then be constructed from this reservoir to Ballydesmond village.