'We can't trust the water we have': Cork residents to hold 'crisis' meeting over discoloured water

A group of residents in The Glen have come together to take a stand against ongoing discoloured water which they say they can no longer trust to drink, even if it looks safe.

Elaine Eager, one of the residents of Mount Farran, explained that the community has had intermittent issues with water quality for the last two years but, in the last two months, the situation has worsened significantly.

“We could be running the water for two hours with no difference — there’d be a mix of colours, dark brown, orange, yellow.

“We’ve been raising complaints with Uisce Éireann this whole time, and they have been completely unsatisfactory — they’ll register the complaint, give you a reference number, then nothing happens,” she said.

“They’re telling us about long-term plans, investments, or new water treatment plants, but we just want to know when we will have safe water.”

A neighbour who had Uisce Éireann come to take samples of the water at his house found dangerous levels of manganese in the water, an odourless and tasteless mineral that cannot be easily detected, said Ms Eager.

“We’re a city centre residential area, so we have a real mix of demographics.

“We’re worried about people with dementia drinking the water.

“One lady was bathing her tiny baby and the water started going brown in the middle of the bath.

“One man can’t wash his chef whites at home anymore.

“There’s been no mention of providing alternative water to us, and we can’t trust the water we have.

“They tell us they’re flushing all the time, but it’s just making it temporarily worse and then back to the way it was.”

The Mount Farran Residents’ Organisation are holding a water-crisis information-sharing event tomorrow evening from 6.30pm-7pm and are inviting local elected representatives to bring urgent attention to the issue.

They plan to set up a table in the centre of their crossroads to share information about the problem, and will also be bringing samples of the water, so people can see the quality.

“The residents of Mount Farran have been forced to deal with a really bad episode of this brown water for weeks and weeks now,” Cork North Central Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Mick Barry told The Echo.

“I’m pleased to see that they have decided to come together to speak out against what’s been going on.

“I hope other communities follow their example.”

In response, Uisce Éireann told The Echo that it is investing €1.6m at the Lee Road Treatment Plant, with two new processes, one to remove manganese and a second to condition the final water.

“In recent years, we have identified increased instances of the naturally occurring mineral, manganese, in raw water, in a number of water supplies across the country,” the company said.

“The manganese-removal system should be in place by the end of 2024, while the scheduled completion date for the installation of all works is mid-2025,” they said, adding that mains rehabilitation works are also under way.

“Public health remains our top priority, and water is safe to drink once it is running clear.

“We continue to encourage customers to contact us directly in the event of discolouration.

“Each report is actioned, giving us a better understanding of any ongoing issues and allows us to prioritise the worst-impacted areas.

“We recognise that instances of discolouration are still arising in areas of Cork city, and want to assure householders and businesses that our dedicated taskforce is undertaking all possible measures to minimise discolouration and address the underlying issues across the city,” Uísce Éireann said.