A community in Co Limerick is appealing to Uisce Éireann to rectify, as a matter of urgency, issues that have led to a year-and-a-half long boil water notice being in place in the town.
Since September 2023, there has been a boil water notice in place for over 2,300 people living in the Cappa more area of Co Limerick.
The notice is one of the longest-running boil water notices in place by Irish Water.
It was issued as a precautionary measure to protect the health of approximately 2,300 customers following the detection of cryptosporidium in the water supply.
The notice impacts all customers supplied by the Cappamore Foileen public water supply, including Carrigmore, which is now supplied from the Cappamore scheme.
People living in the affected area are advised to boil the water from the public supply before drinking or using it in the preparation of food, brushing of teeth or making ice.
The long-running boil water notice has led to growing frustration in the community.
John Hayes runs a pub in the town. He said that the boil water notice has led to increased costs for his business.
He said: "We can't use the water from the public supply to prepare food in the kitchen so we have to buy water.
"Also we have to buy ice for the pub. It has led to increased costs for us, and still we have to pay water rates even though the water from the public supply is only being used by us to flush the toilets with."
Eamon Moylan is a local resident in the town of Cappamore.
He said: "There is only myself and my wife in the house. We have to buy up to 20 litres of water every week and it is costing us up to €20 every month.
"It’s expensive for families and people are very frustrated at how long this is going on."
Eileen Bn de Blácúil is also a resident in the town.
She said they were initially led to believe that the issue would be rectified in short number of months.
"It’s now going on since September 2023 and we don’t know when this will end. I don’t think this would be tolerated if it happened in Dublin," she said.
The Cathaoirelach of Cappamore-Killmallock municipal district, Councillor Martin Ryan, said that a meeting was held with officials from Uisce Éireann last week, where the public’s frustration with the ongoing boil water notice was raised.
"We were told by the officials that improvement works were ongoing and that it was hoped to have the boil water notice lifted by the end of March," Cllr Ryan said.
In a statement Uisce Éireann said that "expert crews have implemented remedial measures to existing processes and are progressing towards the completion of upgrades at the plant".
"This includes the installation of a state-of-the-art ultraviolet disinfection unit which will provide an effective and reliable barrier to eliminate the risk of cryptosporidium.
"Once these upgrades have taken place, and satisfactory testing results have been achieved, the HSE will be consulted with a view to lifting the boil water notice. We anticipate works being completed by the end of Q1," it said.
