Large North Tipp region facing serious water infrastructure problem
‘water tankers are no longer needed and the water supply is back to normal’
A LARGE region in North Tipperary, including Lorrha, Carrig and Rathcabbin, is facing a serious water infrastructure problem.
Local Councillor Michael O'Meara told the Tribune that a new borewell needs to be created in the district to tackle the issue.
“We currently have just the one borewell in the region. It's situated in Carrig and supplies 1500 premises. However it's clear that in periods of extended dry weather one well is not sufficient.” During the prolonged drought period in July water tankers had to be called in to fill the reservoir in the Lorrha area. Cllr O'Meara said water tankers are no longer needed and the water supply is back to normal, but at the time of writing another heatwave is on the way and he's worried about the effect this will have.
The Councillor said the relationship between the Councillors and Uisce Éireann has improved a bit since a new Direct Line / Hot Desk was created six months ago. Before that, the Councillor said, the level of communication between the two groups was poor. “This new Direct Line has improved things,” he remarked. “And the Uisce Éireann employees at the other end of the Line are sometimes helpful. However, we are still not happy because sometimes it's very hard to get the information we want. Also when it comes to making major policy initiatives it's very hard to get Uisce Éireann moving. For example, we have been talking about the need for a second borewell for a long time but Uisce Éireann is very slow in getting to grips with the problem.” Cllr O'Meara said he wants the area's TDs to raise the matter with the powers that be. “There's only so much we Councillors can do and we need the TDs to put their shoulder to the wheel as well.”
He added that Uisce Éireann have said they will carry out a “technical analysis” to see which parts of the region might be suitable for a borewell; however, no date has been given as to when this work might be done. “The problem is our area is very high in sulphur which means a lot of it is simply not suitable for borewells.”
In the second week of July it was reported that the villages of Lorrha, Carrig and Rathcabbin were experiencing severe drinking water shortages and critically low reservoir levels. The shortages were due, it was reported, to the heatwave, increased demand, and historical infrastructure issues. A public tap was set up in Lorrha village for drinking water. “As climate change is getting more extreme we will face this problem every year,” Cllr O'Meara said at the time. “It seems ludicrous to me that Uisce Éireann is proposing to pump massive amounts of water to Dublin while we can’t get any.”
Last January, during a monthly meeting of Tipperary County Council, Cllr O'Meara pointed out that water supplies for households and farmers in the Carrig, Rathcabbin and Lorrha areas is of a "third world standard" and expressed dismay at the proposal to pump water through an area close to the banks of the Shannon to serve Dublin. "At the moment in the Carrig, Rathcabbin and Lorrha areas,” he told the January meeting, “there are 1,500 houses and businesses that have no proper water since Christmas, that have been on a boil water notice since Christmas, and on the other side of that we propose to ship our water to Dublin - I think it is absolutely crazy.” The boil water notice was caused by elevated turbidity which affected treatment at the Rathcabbin Water Treatment Plant.
Last April a large quantity of oil was discharged into the sewer network and subsequently detected at the Lorrha wastewater treatment plant, thankfully before major environmental damage was caused.