Irish Water should be ''hauled over the coals'' for its handling of recent boil water notice says Offaly councillor

IRISH Water ''should be hauled over the coals'' for the manner in which it handled the recent boil water notice in Tullamore, believes Councillor Tony McCormack.

Cllr McCormack was speaking at the July meeting of Tullamore Municipal District when he said the communication from Uisce Eireann as it is now know was ''terrible.'' He said many people didn't even know there was a boil water notice.

''I know other people who tried to contact Irish Water and they were fobbed off. They didn't know when the water was going to be back up and running. They [Uisce Eireann] also put a map up and you would want to be Bear Grylls to figure out where on the map it was, there were no names, no points marked out, no streets, bridges, canal. It was impossible to find out unless you put another map beside it,'' said the Tullamore based councillor.

The Boil Water Notice was issued on June 20 for all customers supplied by Tullamore South and Clonaslee Water Supply. Uisce Eireann said it was ''to protect the health of approximately 3,900 customers due to raw water quality issues which impacted the treatment processes at the water treatment plant. The notice has since been lifted.

At the municipal district meeting, Cllr McCormack said: ''An awful lot of people weren't able to figure out where the boil notice was and where it wasn't. He said some pubs, bars and restaurants were using water because ''they didn't know any different. The communication was terrible. We need to be sending a strong message to Irish Water that this is not on. If there is a boil notice then obviously there is a danger to some people, especially vulnerable people. We need to get that word out to them. How we do it, I don't know. We have never had so many forms of communication whether it be social media, or through papers, radio or through whatever means we can get that point across.''

''I think it's an absolute disgrace, Irish Water or Uisce Eireann need to be taken over the coals for this it could have been an awful lot more serious and thankfully it wasn't,'' he said.

Councillor Sean O'Brien said he received calls from people regarding the notice. Most people think it's still the function of Offaly County Council and I tried to explain it to them that it's Uisce Eireann.''

Cllr O'Brien advised people to log on to water.ie and then to go to water quality to enter their eircode and they will get an update on the water quality in their area.

Uisce Eireann said, ''Drinking water experts from Uisce Éireann and Offaly and Laois County Councils worked hard to lift the notice as quickly as safely as possible, carrying out a number of upgrade works at the treatment plant and substantial reconfiguration of the water network. Following satisfactory water samples confirming that the drinking water was compliant with EU drinking water regulations, the Boil Water Notice was lifted.''

Uisce Éireann’s John Gavin acknowledged the impact of the notice on the community, adding: “Uisce Éireann regrets the inconvenience that the Boil Water Notice had on these communities in Offaly and Laois. I would like to thank them for their patience and support while our drinking water experts worked tirelessly with our colleagues in Offaly and Laois County Councils to lift the Boil Water Notice as quickly as it was safe to do so. I would also like to thank the local councillors and the media for their assistance in sharing the information during the period of this boil water notice."