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Boil water notice: Series of events at Leixlip plant in March led to 'significant risk to safety of supply'

The audit found Irish Water failed to take samples of treated water during the critical period following the incident.

A SERIES OF events occurred over three days in March at the water treatment plant at the centre of a current boil water notice for 600,000 customers in the greater Dublin area which “presented a significant risk to the safety of the water supply,” an unreported audit has revealed. 

The audit by the Environmental Protection Agency found Irish Water failed to consult the HSE about the risk to public health caused by a temporary loss of controls at the Leixlip water treatment plant in March to prevent Cryptosporidium and Giardia – waterborne parasites that can cause major illness including nausea and diarrhoea. 

The problem resulted from a pump failure which went undetected for almost eight hours on March 13-14 which allowed small particles of sludge into treated water and resulted in above normal levels of aluminium and turbidity (cloudy water). 

The EPA found that while Irish Water sought advice from the HSE about the high aluminium levels in drinking water it did not refer to the HSE about “the more significant issue” relating to the temporary loss of Cryptosporidium and Giardia barriers. 

The audit found Irish Water also failed to take samples of treated water during the critical period following the incident. 

While samples taken on March 17-18 tested positive for Giardia, Irish Water said it did not believe the detections were linked to the pump failure and the cause remains unknown. 

Data from the Leixlip plant also led the EPA to discover that there had been an uncontrolled release of large quantities of raw sewage into the River Liffey between Newbridge and Leixlip around the same time.  

A separate investigation by the EPA found that Irish Water had failed to comply with the requirements of its licence over the release of the untreated sewage from its Newhall pump station located near Naas, Co Kildare over three consecutive days. 

The watchdog established that up to 12,300 cubic metres of raw sewage was released into the River Liffey between March 14 and March 16 due to the failure of pumps  at the Newhall plant. 

Irish Water was also in breach of its licence for taking a week to notify the relevant authorities about the discharge into the Liffey – one of the main sources of drinking water supplies in Dublin. 

“Irish Water should have notified the EPA, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Leixlip water treatment plant as soon as practicable after the release of the raw sewage. Irish Water failed to do this and only notified these bodies of the incident on March 21, 2019,” an EPA spokesperson said. 

Another failure at the Newhall plant occurred on March 22 which resulted in up to 5,000m³ of raw sewage being discharged into the river over 15 hours. On this occasion, Irish Water notified all the relevant authorities immediately. 

The EPA has instructed Irish Water to review all matters surrounding the incidents in March and to take appropriate action to avoid a recurrence. 

Inland Fisheries Ireland said no fish had been killed as a result of the discharges. 

An Irish Water spokesperson said the initial overflow coincided with period of heavy rainfall which led to high water levels in the River Liffey. 

The spokesperson said all 30 samples taken from water supplies from the affected section of the river that were tested at the Leixlip plant were “fully compliant”. 

Irish Water said it had carried out a number of actions at the Newhall facility since the incidents including the installation of a new alarm system. 

Social Democrats co-leader and Kildare North TD, Catherine Murphy said it was incredible that alarm systems in place to notify monitoring bodies of developing failures did not work as intended. 

“There has been a failure between institutions here and a thorough investigation needs to be initiated and assurances given that all issues will be immediately addressed in order to prevent a repeat of this happening again,” said Ms Murphy. 

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    Mute The Risen
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    Oct 24th 2019, 12:55 PM

    So, multiple failures from Irish Water. Well that’s what happens when you set up a company for billing and privatisation rather than a proper state utility

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    Mute Peter Hughes
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    Oct 24th 2019, 1:08 PM

    @The Risen: Heads should roll.

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    Mute Frank Cauldhame
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    Oct 24th 2019, 6:24 PM

    @Peter Hughes: Yep but they won’t because this is ireland. The EU advised our government NOT to install meters until the infrastructure was updated but they ignored that advise. I’d love to which one’s made the decision to meter because they were not acting on the good faith of the citizens of our country.

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    Mute Roibeard Ó Riain
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    Oct 24th 2019, 12:53 PM

    And we only hear about it now. Absolute bollox

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    Mute Tim Pot
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    Oct 24th 2019, 2:48 PM

    @Roibeard Ó Riain:

    3. AUDITORS COMMENTS The audit found that Leixlip water treatment plant is generally very well run and operated, however the series of events which occurred from 13/03/19 to 15/03/19 presented a significant risk to the safety of the water supply. Irish Water must ensure that the lessons learned from this incident are acted upon to prevent a reoccurrence, and to ensure the ongoing safety and security of the water supplied by Leixlip water treatment plant, and to protect public health for the significant population served by the plant.

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    Mute Nuala Mc Namara
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    Oct 24th 2019, 4:51 PM

    @Tim Pot: IW didn’t test the water after the ‘series of events ‘…why?That is inexcusable!When water was tested giardia was found which is notifiable but water users weren’t told plus because water wasn’t tested by IW water users were also unaware of infected water.This isn’t acceptable!After all this is the second largest water supply in Ireland supplying 600,000 people!
    Also IW was to write a Report for EPA within a month ie May(EPA Report published in April)to show how they would remedy the failures listed in EPA Audit findings!So what did Report convey to EPA re actions taken and response?

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    Mute Nuala Mc Namara
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    Oct 24th 2019, 4:58 PM

    @Nuala Mc Namara: Lessons were not learned!

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    Mute Shakka1244
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    Oct 24th 2019, 5:58 PM

    @Tim Pot: Serious question – why are you on every IW article defending IW to the hilt? What’s your angle?

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    Mute Dave Doyle
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    Oct 24th 2019, 1:20 PM

    All part of the privatisation strategy. No one will be held accountable. A pat on the back for doing a good job and following policy.

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    Mute Mary Byrne
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    Oct 24th 2019, 1:40 PM

    So it’s only a problem now because they have been found out.

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    Mute Isabel Oliveira
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    Oct 24th 2019, 2:31 PM

    Excuse me ? This happened in March and the public was not advised until now ? Dangerous Bacteria for people with health problems and excessive aluminium in water to which I’m actually allergic as are many people ? !What the hell is going on ? This is Outrageous . Has this been rectified or has it continued until now meaning they were just caught ?

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    Mute Tim Pot
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    Oct 24th 2019, 2:47 PM

    @Isabel Oliveira:
    Its freely available information online.
    http://www.epa.ie/water/dw/dwaudits/

    aluminium levels were ‘above normal’ but still below dangerous levels. If there was a risk to human health the HSE would have notified the public.

    Something similar occured in Limerick last year where the HSE notified the local population

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    Mute Dave Doyle
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    Oct 24th 2019, 3:02 PM

    @Tim Pot: Are you IW’s spokesperson?

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    Mute Isabel Oliveira
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    Oct 24th 2019, 3:24 PM

    @Tim Pot: they failed to notify the HSE in March how could the HSE advise us ? They may well be under dangerous levels for people without allergies to it but I can assure you my skin told me differently earlier this year . Ugh

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    Mute Isabel Oliveira
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    Oct 24th 2019, 3:24 PM

    @Tim Pot: they failed to notify the HSE in March how could the HSE advise us ? They may well be under dangerous levels for people without allergies to it but I can assure you my skin told me differently earlier this year . Ugh

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    Mute Tim Pot
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:11 PM

    @Isabel Oliveira:

    No, they did notify the hse regarding the aluminium levels.

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    Mute Nuala Mc Namara
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    Oct 24th 2019, 9:15 PM

    @Tim Pot: But IW FAILED to inform HSE of the ‘most SIGNIFICANT’ issue is failures in clostridium and giardia barriers for 8 long hours…..and no tests done on the water despite significant risk of water contamination from either of them….why?
    I don’t understand why this wasn’t done by IW especially considering 600,000 people including children, vulnerable people at risk of water contaminated from clostridium or giardia which are both notifiable.
    When water later tested giardia present in water.But of course HSE couldn’t notify,tell IW to notify 600,000 people earlier because IW failed to even test for these bugs so HSE didnt know either!

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    Mute Nuala Mc Namara
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    Oct 24th 2019, 9:22 PM

    @Tim Pot: By the way,when water tests positive for giardia in March why NO boil notice issued for the 600,000 people supplied, giardia is notifiable not just to the HSE but especially to the consumers of this water supply.?

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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Oct 24th 2019, 10:36 PM

    @Dave Doyle: Yes he definitely is!!

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    Mute Isabel Oliveira
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    Oct 24th 2019, 11:46 PM

    @Tim Pot: the HSE failed to notify anyone about the aluminium . An audit report in an obscure website is not acceptable . They’re also at fault on this .

    They failed to notify the HSE on the bacteria , now – 7 months have passed and suddenly here’s a boil water notice . Is this a new issue or the same issue that was never resolved ?

    This is absolutely unacceptable . Elderly people and people with compromised immune systems could have fallen very ill due to sheer criminal & deliberate irresponsibility.

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    Mute Joan Murray
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    Oct 24th 2019, 12:48 PM

    Well, you get what you (don’t) pay for.

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    Mute Lurfic
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    Oct 24th 2019, 1:01 PM

    @Joan Murray: you realise that water charges would have replaced existing funding, not added to it?

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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Oct 24th 2019, 1:02 PM

    @Joan Murray: we’ve paid billions & continue to do so every year as you probably know already!

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    Mute David Corrigan
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    Oct 24th 2019, 1:03 PM

    @Joan Murray: The majority of people in Ireland contribute towards the upkeep of our water system. Anyone who pays tax is contributing. First world rates for third world services.

    110
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    Mute Roibeard Ó Riain
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    Oct 24th 2019, 1:14 PM

    @Joan Murray: We did pay for it. Part of motor tax and numerous other payments went to water infrastructure

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    Mute Ali Ní Dhomhnaill
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    Oct 24th 2019, 1:42 PM

    @Joan Murray: I do pay for it, in my motor tax

    49
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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Oct 24th 2019, 2:22 PM

    @Ali Ní Dhomhnaill: And every single item you buy when shopping!

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    Mute David
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    Oct 24th 2019, 2:46 PM

    @Colette Kearns: he knows. Hes trolling

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    Mute Leo The Liar
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    Oct 24th 2019, 5:33 PM

    @Joan Murray: we never stop paying for it.

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    Mute Leo The Liar
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    Oct 24th 2019, 5:42 PM

    @Joan Murray: we always pay for just incompetent fools in Irish water with no accountability.

    11
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    Mute Declan
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    Oct 24th 2019, 1:20 PM

    This is nuts and getting worse by the minute. Can’t believe mist of the city has an unsafe water supply, with no end in site and that there isn’t a bigger effort to get this fixed.

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    Mute Marianne
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    Oct 24th 2019, 4:02 PM

    Not fit for purpose ….and they wanted to charge us ?? Joke

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    Mute gofreak
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    Oct 24th 2019, 5:01 PM

    Still waiting for an explanation on the delay of ~7 hours+ before the boil notice was issued in the current incident…

    How long were we drinking potentially bad water?

    22
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    Mute Nuala Mc Namara
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    Oct 24th 2019, 2:58 PM

    Obviously, lessons not learned!!

    16
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    Mute @mdmak33
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    Oct 24th 2019, 1:23 PM

    Ridiculous

    33
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    Mute Todd Unctuous
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    Oct 24th 2019, 2:32 PM

    It makes great sense to dump treated shit in the Liffey in Naas upstream of Leixlip where our drinking water is then taken from. I live in the affected area and will never trust to drink the water again as its not being treated correctly. Nice to see that a third of my motor tax is squandered!

    52
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    Mute Nicholas Byrne
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    Oct 24th 2019, 5:30 PM

    At the end of the day Irish Water’s failure to report to the EPA in March unnecessarily put public health at risk. Who will be held accountable ?.

    14
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    Mute Michael
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    Oct 24th 2019, 2:16 PM

    It wasn’t unreported. It was covered in questions to the Taoiseach yesterday from the Sinn Fein leader in the Dail.

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    Mute Damien Hawe
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    Oct 24th 2019, 3:25 PM

    @Michael: It was unreported when it happened back in March

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    Mute James Quinn
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    Oct 24th 2019, 3:13 PM

    I’m not feeling well

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    Mute Enda Collins
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    Oct 24th 2019, 4:56 PM

    Here in Roscommon we were on a boil water notice for two years at the very least and hardly no mention of it in the media !!
    Enough said !! Just boil the water for a while.

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    Mute kevin mc cormack
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    Oct 24th 2019, 3:51 PM

    Holding a gun to the public’s head, pay up or else

    17
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    Mute gofreak
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    Oct 24th 2019, 5:01 PM

    @kevin mc cormack: If you pay tax, you’re already paying.

    11
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    Mute kevin mc cormack
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    Oct 24th 2019, 6:31 PM

    @gofreak: I know,and now we have to play Russian roulette by using what we’re all ready paying for

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    Mute James Quinn
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    Oct 24th 2019, 3:13 PM

    I’m not feeling well

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    Mute Paul Whitehead
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    Oct 24th 2019, 7:14 PM

    @James Quinn: Make yourself a lovely cup of tea. Just make sure you remove the brown floaters and boil the kettle twice.

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