IRISH WATER HAS issued a further warning about potential smells from the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant following a delay in maintenance works at the facility. 

The utility first advised the public about bad odours last week, when it announced that works to replace carbon odour control media at the plant would take around five days.

Those works are being carried out to reduce the risk of smells from the plant, but Irish Water has issued a further odour notice today and said the works will now be completed on 30 August.

In a statement, the utility apologised for any smells that occurred while the works were carried out, saying:

These works are essential maintenance works on one of the odour control units at the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant, and involve replacing carbon odour control media to ensure any odours generated in that area of the plant are effectively treated.

All other odour conrol units are operating effectively at present. There may be intermittent odours while these works are carried out.

It is the third such notice that Irish Water has issued in the last two months.

In July, the utility advised of a risk of smells as cleaning works at the plant were carried out to deal with odour issues and to reduce the risk of odours from other debris over the summer.

The plant has also been the subject of scrutiny following a number of storm water overflows and discharges.

A number of brown plumes have been spotted in the Liffey estuary near the plant this year, while earlier this year, TheJournal.ie also revealed how billions of litres of untreated wastewater have overflowed from the plant since 2015.