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Boil water notice for 600,000 people in greater Dublin area to remain in place until at least Tuesday

A notice affecting 600,000 people is currently in place for areas of Dublin, Meath and Kildare.

A BOIL WATER notice, issued on Monday and currently in place for areas of Dublin, Meath and Kildare, will remain in place until at least Tuesday. 

The notice impacts 600,000 people supplied by the Leixlip Water Treatment Plant. 

In a statement this evening, Irish Water’s managing director Niall Gleeson said the notice will not be lifted until Tuesday at the earliest as water testing continues. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted an audit of the Leixlip Water Treatment Plant today. Irish Water, the HSE and Fingal County Council were on site.

The test results of three water samples taken throughout the week were found to be satisfactory, Irish Water said, and these results formed part of the audit process. 

The HSE decided that three satisfactory consecutive samples are required after Wednesday evening, when the old plant came back into full compliance, before the notice can be lifted.

Work will continue over the weekend to complete the testing. The final test will be processed and analysed and results should be available on Tuesday.

As a yellow rainfall warning was in place for Dublin over the last number of days, Irish Water said earlier today that it is uncertain of when the boil water notice will be lifted.

Due to the heavy rain, the source water going into the plant was cloudy due to suspended particles. The old Leixlip plant was subsequently not able to cope with the cloudiness levels. This resulted in the boil water notice being issued this week. 

Speaking to RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland, Gleeson said he understands the water notice is having a “massive impact on the people affected”. 

“We know there’s a huge amount of extra work going into the boiling of water. I’d like to apologise personally, it’s a major inconvenience,” Gleeson said, adding that Irish Water needs to make sure that “public health is the driving factor”. 

As a result, he said: “We need to make sure the water is safe to drink, so unfortunately the boil water notice has to stay in place for the moment.” 

Gleeson said that the old plant “managed to cope” with the heavy rain later night and that it is “performing quite well”. 

“Right now, the plant is delivering the water to the quality that we need but the EPA and the HSE will need to see if we can consistently deliver that quality,” Gleeson said. 

He noted that Irish Water has been having issues with the filter beds in the old plant, which is currently in the process of being refurbished. 

“As I said, it’s difficult to upgrade them while we’re trying to deliver the capacity of the water that that plant delivers,” he said. 

When asked whether the Leixlip plant will be able to cope with the “inevitable” levels of rain that will come in the months ahead, Gleeson said: 

Given the conditions of the plant and what we’re seeing now, there is a possibility of another boil water notice.
But as I said, we have our engineers on site. We’re looking at the planning, getting it back in service this week, but also looking at the longer term.
We’re doing everything we can to give more confidence around the plant, but I can’t rule out another boil water notice. 

map of the areas affect is available on the Irish Water website. Any homes and businesses identified in the current map follow are advised to follow the boil water advice.

What you should use cooled boiled water for:

  • Drinking
  • Drinks made with water
  • Preparation of salads and similar foods, which are not cooked before eating
  • Brushing of teeth or gargling
  • Giving pets their water
  • Making ice – discard existing ice cubes and make ice from cooled boiled water
  • Filtered water – pour out any filtered water in fridges and use cooled boiled water

What you do not need cooled boiled water for:

  • Personal hygiene, such as showering and bathing
  • Toilet flushing

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    Mute Jules Lucas
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:48 PM

    The impact of this scandal has done wonders for the local village butcher, which we are better off buying our meat from anyway in my opinion!

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    Mute Christmas Carroll
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:56 PM

    Completely agree! Never mind the fact that at least you know what you’re getting is the real deal, it’s much healthier and tastes a hell of a lot better… Makes the extra money spent worth it!

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    Mute Figo murphy
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:01 PM

    I agree. My local butcher is flying. He just bought a new car, he got rid of that old horse he used to go around on.

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    Mute Christmas Carroll
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:03 PM

    Dammit Figo :-P

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    Mute Dodge Challenger
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:53 PM

    Will this horse meat issue ever go away? It’s not that much of a big deal. Not to ruin any appetites but could you imagine the amount of little insects and other creatures that get minced in with the meat supply that we never know about.

    54
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    Mute susanna smyth
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:56 PM

    Burgers are tested for horse meat only. What other nasty could be in there disguised as beef ?

    18
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    Mute Bo11ocks_to_this
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:19 PM

    Did anyone else see the article from SA about water buffalo, horse and others found in beef. I’ll try find a link

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    Mute mcgoo
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:15 PM

    A bit ironic that “Kanter” did the study eh?

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    Mute pat aherne
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:21 PM

    When we were starting our then 18 month on meat (2years ago) my wife decided to get supermarket burgers just in case he did not like them – well to tell you the truth he pretty much threw the burger back at her. I said why not try butcher meat it will taste alot better and healthier for the child. She got a 1/4 pounder and he ate 2/3 of it. Hence even an 18 month old knew the taste of quality !!

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    Mute clareo79
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    Mar 4th 2013, 2:07 PM

    You gave an 18 month old a burger?!

    29
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    Mute mister
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:51 PM

    Interesting article. If I’m reading those stats correctly, does this indicate that ordinary local butchers have not experienced a bounce in trade? And if not, I wonder why?

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    Mute Hippocrateeth
    Favourite Hippocrateeth
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:57 PM

    In other news, the number of horses commuting on the Dart has risen by over 800% in the past week. Community watch locals report a growing number of incidences involving horses some described as having ‘brazen attitudes’ and ‘brass balls’ towards concerned travellers waiting on the platforms for their respective trains. In a more striking example of the intimidation by the footloose horses, a 6-pack box of Silverdale frozen burgers was kicked at an elderly man’s head causing the man to curse loudly at the ebullient edible equine. The man was later taken for questioning. A file has been sent to the office of the DPP and a request for legal aid has been sought.

    7
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    Mute Dave Kavanagh
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:18 PM

    Great the media is loving this story and in doing so are systematically destroying one of Irelands core industries. Dont get me wrong I am totally for a free press but some of the sensationalism printed about this scandle (storm in a teacup) in relation to its connection with Ireland has been pure speculation and even when facts where established the Irish connection was still bigged up. Journal well done on being responsible and accurate if only other media would follow your example.

    6
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    Mute Barry McSweeney
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    Mar 4th 2013, 3:22 PM

    If anyone is destroying one of Ireland’s core industries it is those who sold contaminated meat, the officials who refuse to admit that traceability “from farm to fork” is a lie, and the businessmen who refuse to speak publicly about what happened in their factories.
    Burying your head in the sand and “pulling on the green jersey” as you advocate will never work.

    14
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    Mute АЛЕКСАНДРЪ ХАИШ
    Favourite АЛЕКСАНДРЪ ХАИШ
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    Mar 4th 2013, 5:47 PM

    Completely agree with you on this one, Dave!

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    Mute sid
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:07 PM

    @ dodge

    I figure its a very big deal , nobody has any idea where what horses were used, could have used anything to bolster up the weight

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    Mute АЛЕКСАНДРЪ ХАИШ
    Favourite АЛЕКСАНДРЪ ХАИШ
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    Mar 4th 2013, 5:21 PM

    “FSAI” IS STILL WORKING ON CONTAMINATED MEAT PRODUCTS ???, WHILE THERE IS POISONOUS MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS RAPIDLY SPREAD ACROSS IRELAND! Disgrace!

    2
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