This article is from page 3 of the 2008-09-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
INTENSIVE lead analysis is being carried out on the Ennis water supply in the wake of revelations concerning water supplies in Cork and Galway. Town Engineer Tom Tiernan con- firmed yesterday that more rigorous testing procedures are being imple- mented following news of lead con- tamination of the water supply in parts of Galway City and Mallow. Mr Tiernan said that under law, the council was already required to reg- ularly test the water for lead but that
given recent events these procedures have been intensified.
“We were already conducting these tests but in response we are carrying out more intensive lead investiga- nova icra
Mr Tiernan said the council were awaiting test results but that no prob- lems had yet emerged with the En- nis supply. He added that there are certain areas of the town where lead piping is in place but that the council had removed a substantial amount of piping during re-development work on O’Connell Street, Abbey Street
and Parnell Street.
Independent councillor Frankie Neylon has called for individual test- ing of homes in the St Flannan’s Ter- race, Connolly Villas, St Michael’s Villas and Hermitage areas of En- Wh
Cllr Neylon said that piping net- works in homes there are most sus- ceptible to the risk posed, if any, by lead contamination as they are among the oldest built houses in the en aee
“Connolly Villas was built in 1932, St Michael’s was built in 1954. These
areas were built before the 1970s and these are the type of homes that would be affected,” said Cllr Ney- lon.
He added, “I’ll be calling for tests to be carried out on all of these areas in Ennis. The supply in the houses themselves needs to be analysed and not just the supply from the pump- house to the house.”
On Friday last the Environmental Protection Agency wrote to all local authorities to advise them of the steps that need to be taken if the local au- thority becomes aware of lead levels
in excess of the parametric value ina public water supply.
According to the EPA there are 944 public water supplies in Ireland and that the latest testing results indi- cate that over 99 per cent of samples taken were compliant with the lead CI TILOrKOR
Since the introduction of the Drink- ing Water Regulations in March 2007, eleven local authorities have notified the EPA of exceedances of the lead parametric value in relation to 23 out of the 944 public water sup- plies.