Dundalk cllrs seek visit to water treatment plant over water quality issues

Councillors Seán Kelly and Kevin Meenan tabled a motion at the Dundalk Municipal District January meeting, requesting that Irish Water facilitate a visit to Cavan Hill Treatment Plant by Dundalk Councillors as soon as possible.

The councillors' motion stated, “that Louth County Council write to Irish Water and for them to facilitate a visit by Councillors from Dundalk MD to Cavan Hill Water Treatment Plant as soon as possible, and while on site, to be given an overview of the causes and issues surrounding continuous water notices in Dundalk over the past two years.”

Cllr Kelly further commented, “we need to have confidence in our water supply, the persistent water issues of discolouring and pressure over the past number of years needs to be addressed fully.

The Dundalk councillor continued, “we have never seen so many water notices and even though the advice is that the water is safe, people are rightly concerned.

“A visit to Cavan Hill by the elected officials where they will be given a tour of the site and the issues explained to them should help alleviate concerns.”

Cllr Kelly added, “prior to Christmas I tried to ascertain the contact details for the Area Manager for Irish Water and the site Manager for Cavan Hill.

“Neither were made available to me because of GDPR, this does not instil confidence in the entity if elected officials are not being told who is in charge. We want and need clarity now.”

Adding to Cllr Kelly's comments, Cllr Meenan said that he fully supported the motion. Cllr Meenan said that it “has been has a continuous issue on our agenda for the past number of years and people are rapidly losing faith in Irish Water as a consequence. “These visits were facilitated many years ago, why can’t they be done now, we need confidence in our water supply.”

In response, the council agreed to write to Irish Water to request the visit.