THE River Burrin just outside Carlow town has been polluted with slicks of noxious fuel, which forced the closure of a nearby water plant. The as-yet unidentified fuel was discovered in the river very close to the Sion Cross water plant about ten days ago, forcing its closure and leading to a restricted water supply.
“We are here looking at a beautiful freshwater river and this awful film of oil sitting on it,” a local resident told The Nationalist. “Passing by one day last week, I saw a group of young fellas swimming in it and the smell of the stuff … it’s just dreadful to think this has been allowed to go on for so long,” he said.
The fuel was spotted in the River Burrin about a mile from the Sion Cross water treatment plant, which alarmed the HSE so much that it ordered the plant to stay shut until the contamination is completely cleared.
The water supply to Carlow town has been affected, as Irish Water has been forced to restrict supply from midnight to 6am every morning. And it’s likely to remain restricted, as it will take Carlow County Council weeks to clean up the area. While a spokesperson for the local authority was reluctant to reveal how much the entire operation will cost, he did say that it will involve “substantial money” and that it may take three weeks for experts to resolve the problem.
The council took a sample of the oil last Monday and sent it for analysis, while it also informed the inland fisheries about the situation. However, the results still hadn’t come back by yesterday but it’s reckoned that the oil is agricultural diesel. The council also located the source of the oil on Friday as a storage tank that leaked the fuel into the river.
The pollutant is so close to the water plant that the HSE advised both Carlow County Council and Irish Water that they could not allow any chance of the water supply being affected by the fuel spill.
“They’re concerned about the health risks of diesel being in the river,” a spokesperson for the council said. Experts from the Department of the Environment to advise on the clean-up are expected to arrive in Carlow today or tomorrow, while it’s also expected that the Sion Cross plant will remain closed for up to three weeks.
The water supply will be restricted during that time, with the water pressure lower from midnight to 6am. Some areas of Pollerton had little or no cold water during those hours over the weekend.
“The key thing is that the water supply is restored safely and that we have some idea as to when it will be back to normal. A number of people in the town contacted me to say that they had very little water,” said cllr Fintan Phelan yesterday (Monday).
Yesterday, Irish Water moved to assure customers that tap water is safe to drink and that there was no cause for alarm.
“The water being supplied from the alternative sources is safe to drink and there is no risk to public health. There is no water being supplied to Carlow town from the River Burrin, therefore, a boil-water notice is not required,” said a statement from Irish Water.
In the meantime, people are asked to conserve their water use.
“Customers may experience reduced water pressure from midnight until 6am each night until further notice,” said a statement released by Irish Water. “It is not expected that there will be any supply outages during this time. We would ask customers to be conscious of unnecessary usage of water over the coming days so as to avoid the necessity to impose any further restrictions on the supply. We will also continue to liaise closely with, and take advice from, the HSE in relation to all public health matters,” the statement added.
Should customers have any concerns or queries, they are asked to contact Irish Water’s 24/7 customer care line on 1850 278278. For advice on simple ways to conserve water, see www.water.ie/community/conservation/be-water-smart/.
