Uisce Éireann 'not meeting standards customers expect' in Cork

A BRIEFING by representatives of Uisce Éireann for Cork City Council’s Environment, Water, and Amenity Committee did not answer many of the questions raised regarding the ongoing discolouration of water experienced by homes and businesses over several months, councillors have said.

The Green Party in Cork issued a statement in which they said Uisce Éireann could not provide assurances of when the problem of discoloured water would end in the city.

According to the Green Party statement, the utility attributed the discolouration to an excess of manganese carried from cast iron water mains and said this problem had occurred in three separate phases over the last 18 months.

According to Uisce Éireann, the allowable limit for manganese was 50µg/L, but the Green Party allege discoloured water in taps would be “many multitudes of times” over the limit.

“For someone making a baby’s bottle, or washing their clothes, or showering in discoloured water, that’s no good,” said councillor Oliver Moran.

“People are exhausted from reporting, they’ve bought their own filtration systems, they’re buying bottled water.”

While acknowledging in its response to the queries raised by councillors that the water services in Cork city were “not meeting the standards customers rightly expect”, Uisce Éireann insisted the water leaving Lee Road Water Treatment plant was tested and compliant with drinking water regulations.

“When flowing through the network, the water can on occasion cause manganese sediment that has built up on the walls of old cast iron water mains over the years to be dislodged resulting in discoloured water arriving at customer taps,” the utility told The Echo.

“Our advice to customers is to not drink discoloured water and instead run the tap until the water runs clear. Drinking water will generally become unpalatable (discoloured with an unpleasant taste) at levels above the regulations, which will deter you from drinking it.”

After the meeting on Tuesday, Socialist Party councillor for the North West ward Brian McCarthy branded the briefing as a “a blatant PR exercise”: The discussion afterwards was a two hour display of deflection and avoiding responsibility,” he said.

In its statement issued following Tuesday’s meeting, Uisce Éireann said it remained “committed to carrying out all necessary works to reduce instances of discolouration the city”.

“As a result of the works carried out ... there continues to be a downward trend in reported cases. In the short term, Uisce Éireann continues with works to proactively flush the network in targeted areas across Cork City where reports of discolouration have been received.”