Cork sees dramatic increase in illness complaints suspected to be linked to drinking water

OVER the past two years, some 95 people in Cork city have complained of suffering from illnesses suspected to have been caused by water consumption, compared to just one such complaint in 2020 and two in 2021.

In 2022, Uisce Éireann received 55 complaints from Cork people who said they had become ill after consuming drinking water, while it received 40 such complaints this year.

The water utility company received 1,484 complaints of discoloured water from homes and businesses across the city in 2022, while it received 1,628 such complaints in 2023.

A spokesperson for Uisce Éireann said the company would usually expect to see roughly 15 such complaints in a week, or approximately 750 complaints in the year, under normal circumstances in the Cork city area.

The figures were given to The Echo by Uisce Éireann following a Freedom of Information (FoI) request and a media query.

Several areas across the city have been affected by intermittent instances of discoloured water in the drinking supply in the months since the summer of last year, when the then Irish Water opened its new Lee Road water treatment plant.

According to documents released early this year to Socialist Party TD for Cork North Central, Mick Barry following a FoI request, complaints about water quality in Cork city rose from 20 per week in the Lee Road plant’s first week of operation to 119 complaints in one week the following month.

In the four months after the water treatment plant opened, the company received 610 complaints of discoloured water from residents across the city.

In October 2022, following a series of questions submitted by The Echo, Irish Water admitted that it had been responsible for the discolouration of at least some of the city’s drinking supply since last summer.

The water company said an adjustment of the chemicals used in water preparation had caused rusty sediment to be stripped from the inside of Cork city’s century-old water mains, resulting in discoloured water pouring out of household taps in homes across the city.

Amongst the correspondence released to Mr Barry was an email from Irish Water, dated August 22, 2022, to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) informing the statutory environmental watchdog of an increase in complaints of discoloured water in Cork city.

The email noted that water from the new Lee Road plant had entered the supply on July 29, 2022. 

The email added: “There is the potential that process changes, particularly the change in the pH corrective chemical in use, i.e. from Lime to Caustic, may be contributing to the problem and causing the water to become more corrosive”.

Workers’ Party president and Cork City Council member Ted Tynan was first alerted to an issue at the then-Irish Water’s Lee Road facility soon after it opened.

“A chemical, sodium hydroxide, commonly known as caustic soda, was introduced to the water supply coming from the new treatment plant on the Lee Road [at the end of July 2022],” Mr Tynan said.

He said said it was his understanding too much sodium hydroxide had been put into the water system.

Mr Tynan said he had been informed by water workers that the chemical had caused the stripping of the inside of water pipes, resulting not just in discoloured water, but also in hundreds of leaks across the city.

Uisce Éireann has insisted that discoloured water does not pose a health and safety risk but has warned people not to drink discoloured water.

In a statement issued to The Echo during Christmas Week, Uisce Éireann said there “are approximately 600km of watermains in Cork City, 50% to 60% of which are made from cast iron and approximately 100 years old, dating back to the 1920s".

“In old cast iron mains, sediment can become dislodged during repair or upgrade works and can occasionally be carried through to customers’ taps, leading to the water to appear brown or orange.” 

Regarding the volume of complaints about water quality, the company pointed out that it had been proactively encouraging customers to call and report issues.

“During July of this year, we undertook a two-week radio advertising campaign on Cork’s 96FM, which included geo-targeted podcast ads, asking customers to report water quality issues,” the company said.

“We have also been actively asking elected representatives to encourage customers to call us directly. Each call that we received is actioned and gives us a greater understanding of any ongoing issues.” 

The company said testing and analysis of the water supply was ongoing to ensure water was compliant with drinking water regulations and results were shared with both the EPA and the HSE.

Uisce Éireann has advised people not to not drink discoloured water — to run the tap for several minutes to see if it runs clear — and if it fails to do so, to call them on 1800 278 278.