Flushing at Roschoill to find smell source

The ongoing battle to find the source of the smell on the Marsh Road will see Irish Water carry out a further investigation in the coming weeks.

In a further response received from Deputy Fergus O’Dowd issued by Irish Water on Friday, following on from his requests to investigate and remedy the malodours along the Dublin Rd, Irish Water has confirmed that they believe the issue to be network related and not plant related and will seek independent advice on the matter.

“Irish Water has confirmed to me that they have escalated their investigations on the matter and as such they have jetted the lines in the Wheaton Hall, Foxhill and Woodford on Thursday 12th July 2018, with a further flush in the next 2 weeks scheduled for Roschoill,” sais Deputy O’Dowd.

“An external odour control specialist firm will now assess the plant’s odours and bio filters and will report on the matter by the end of September.”

“I will continue to press Irish Water for any required works to be carried out as quickly as possible to deal with this unacceptable issue.”

Separate investigations by Irish Water and Louth County Council carried out in recent months have both been inconclusive, and ruled out any link between the malodours and the Waste Water Treatment Plant ( WWTP) on the Marsh Road.

“Odour patrol monitoring at the boundary of the WWTP was carried out on nine separate occasions between May 24th and June 13th and on each occasion no odours were detected at the boundary of the WWTP,” stated a previous correspondent to Deputy O’Dowd.

“The only odours detected were localised at the primary settlement tanks within the site but these odours were not detectable at the site boundaries. There have been no process issues or mechanical breakdowns at the plant that would give rise to malodours”.

The report stated that no odours have been detected by the portable gas monitors worn daily by the operators, and on June 13th an Irish Water engineer visited site to carry out an inspection, no issues were noted and no odours were detected at the boundary of the site during this inspection. “Operators will continue to carry out regular odour monitoring checks at the site and are currently conducting a survey of the incoming load to the plant to identify any increased plant loadings,” they stated.