North Cork may face more ‘boil water’ notices in future

A CORK TD has described as “unsustainable” problems with a North Cork village’s water supply following the lifting of a boil water notice after almost a year.

Uisce Éireann confirmed it lifted the boil water notice for the Killavullen public water supply, which it introduced on May 2, 2022, due to high levels of turbidity — cloudiness in water — in the borehole supply.

The water utility company said it had lifted the boil notice, which affected more than 800 people, on Monday, following almost a year of remedial measures to address the issue, and after consultation with the HSE. The company said all consumers on the Killavullen public water supply “can now resume normal use of the water supply for drinking, food preparation, and brushing teeth”.

Uisce Éireann’s operations lead Pat Britton thanked those affected during the boil water notice period for their patience and apologised for the inconvenience caused to householders and businesses.

“We are also working on a permanent solution to ensure a more reliable water supply,” he said.

“However, until then, additional boil water notices may need to be issued to protect public health.”

Uisce Éireann said that to safeguard the water supply in the long term, it was working on plans to connect Killavullen to the Mallow supply scheme, replacing and decommissioning the local water supply to ensure a safer, and more reliable supply of drinking water. The company said a design and build contractor had been engaged to progress the design of that project, with the hope that construction could commence by June.

'ONLY A MATTER OF TIME'

Cork East TD Seán Sherlock said the situation regarding Killavullen’s water supply was entirely unsatisfactory.

“These intermittent boil notices are unsustainable,” the Labour Party TD said. “There will be more notices until such time as Uisce Éireann gets to the bottom of this and fixes it permanently. Lauding the lifting of a boil water notice as a success is not really a success when we know that, like the next bus, it is only a matter of time before the next boil water notice comes around again.”

Separately, a boil water notice has also been in effect on the Whitegate regional public water supply since October 29, affecting some 9,500 people in the Aghada, Ballinacurra, Ballycotton, Churchtown, Cloyne, Saleen, and Shanagarry areas.

On Whiddy Island, a do not consume notice has been in place since August 19, meaning the island’s 25 or so residents have had to rely entirely on imported water.