An EPA audit has found that residents of an East-Clare village were exposed to inadequately disinfected water for 12 months before a boil notice was put in place.
A new report has been published by the Environmental Protection Agency following a site visit to the O’Briensbridge Water Treatment Plant in September.
The EPA report found a failure of the UV Disinfection System on the O’Briensbridge Public Water Supply resulted in inadequately disinfected water entering the supply for a twelve month period before a boil water notice was issued.
It states that this was caused by the loss of the Cryptosporidium treatment barrier at the plant, which was compounded by inadequate chlorine contact time, which brought the water quality below minimum World Health Organisation Standards.
The audit also found that a that a lack of communication between Uisce Eireann and Clare County Council caused significant delays in identifying the full extent of deficiencies in the plant’s disinfection system.
On the 25th of August last year, Uisce Eireann discovered that the UV system was not functioning properly, however the EPA and HSE were not notified until August 28th, which the EPA says “did not allow a risk assessment to public health to be carried out in a timely manner”.
During the subsequent audit Clare County Council stated that “the UV disinfection system had been out of operation for twelve months prior to the imposition of the BWN”.
In conclusion, the EPA issued nine recommendations for Uisce Eireann to carry out without delay on the O’Briensbridge Public Water Supply.
The O’Briensbridge Supply serves a population of 944 people within Montpelier, Co. Limerick, Bridgetown and O’Briensbridge.
You can read the full report here
