Public meeting to be held over ongoing Limerick water notice

THE SHANNON Estuary Water Action Group (SEWAG) will be holding a public meeting regarding the current boil water notice affecting many in West Limerick.

A boil water notice has been in place for the approximately 7,000 people who avail of the Foynes/Shannon Estuary Public Water Supply since May of this year.

The boil water notice was issued by Uisce Éireann due to the presence of cryptosporidium, a harmful parasite which is caused by the presence of either human or animal faeces in the water.

According to SEWAG, it is unlikely that the issue will be resolved by December as initially indicated.

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“We are asking as many people as possible from our communities to attend this meeting to hopefully get some long-awaited information, raise awareness, and push for action,” a spokesperson for SEWAG said.

“Invitations were issued to local councillors, TDs, Uisce Éireann, the EPA, the national laboratory and the HSE in the hope that at this meeting, they can brief the public on the current situation, to answer questions and address concerns that we have,” they added.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, November 30 at 7.30pm in the community hall in Askeaton.

The current solution to the problem as outlined by Uisce Éireann in a special meeting of the municipal district of Adare-Rathkeale, is to remove an ultraviolet reactor from its location at a plant in Cork and transport it to the the Foynes/Shannon Estuary water plant where it will be refitted.

The reactor renders the cryptosporidium in the water supply inactive.

According to Uisce Éireann: “This unit will be capable of treating the equivalent of eight olympic size swimming pools each day to serve the homes and businesses in the community. Works which have now commenced on site involve civil engineering works, electrical installation and integration into the existing treatment process.”