OVER 6,500 AFFECTED BY BOIL WATER NOTICE AFTER FAULT AT PLANT
‘PRECAUTIONARY’ NOTICE FOR NORTH WICKLOW HOMES FOLLOWING FAULT
UP to 65,000 people are being warned not to drink the water from their taps without boiling it first following a mechanical failure at the Vartry Water Treatment Plant.
Irish Water announced on Monday that a boil water notice was being put in place as a precautionary measure following the mechanical failure of the chlorine booster at the plant.
Areas affected in north Wicklow include Ashford, Newcastle (including Newcastle Hospital), Newtownmountkennedy, Kilcoole, Kilquade, Kilpedder, Kilmacanogue (including Glenview Hotel/Kilmurray Cottages), Greystones, Cookstown Road, Fassaroe/Berryfield Lane, Kilcroney, Delgany and Bray. A number of rural areas between Callowhill and Cronroe are also affected, namely Killiskey, Nuns Cross, Coynes Cross, Prospect, Mount John, Timmore Lane and Dunran.
Areas are affected in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown include Corke Abbey, Woodbrook Glen, Old Connaught Avenue, Thornhill Road, Ballyman Road, Ferndale Road (from its junction with Old Connaught Avenue to Allies River Road), the Dublin Road (from the junction of Old Connaught Avenue to Allies River Road) and all areas off these roads.
The decision to issue the boil water notice was taken by Irish Water and Wicklow County Council following advice from the HSE.
In a statement, Irish Water said that it will liaise with the HSE with a view to having the boil water notice removed as soon as possible. It is carrying out chlorine dosing on the supply and has put in place a water sampling programme to test the chlorine levels in the impacted areas.
In the meantime, customers in the affected areas are advised to boil water before use until further notice.
While the water can be used for bathing or flushing toilets, it must be boiled for drinking, brushing teeth, preparing foods which are not cooked prior to eating, making ice or preparing infant feeds.
Irish Water has warned that domestic water filters will not render water safe to drink. It advises householders to bring water to a vigorous, rolling boil then allow to cool before covering and storing in a refrigerator or cold place.
‘Irish Water apologises for the inconvenience caused by the imposition of the boil water notice,’ it said in its statement. ‘We will continue to work closely with Wicklow County Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and Dublin City Council, who run the plant on behalf of Irish Water, and the HSE to monitor the supply and lift the notice as quickly as possible.’
Irish Water was recently granted planning permission to upgrade the Vartry Water Treatment Plant. The contract to construct the upgraded plant is due be awarded at the end of 2018 and construction will take two years to complete.