This article is from page 25 of the 2009-08-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 25 JPG
A PRECAUTIONARY boil notice 1s set to remain in place on the Ennis water supply after further problems were encountered with the town’s new €8 million water treatment plant.
In statement released last week, Sean Ward, Senior Executive Engi- neer with Clare County Council, said “The new treatment plant has been in full production since August 7, but there is further work to be done before the 30-day commissioning period can recommence. A full 30 days without interruption must be completed before the plant can be deemed to be fully in operation. On completion of this, the council can have discussions with the Health Services Executive about possible removal of the current precautionary oe) 0m te) 8 (een
“The new plant started treating water on 2nd March 2009, and since that date it has treated all the water supplied to the consumers in Ennis town and the surrounding supply area. The quality of the treated wa- ter has been consistently high. Dur- ing times of heavy rainfall, in March and April, the plant experienced dif- ficulty in treating a sufficient quan- tity of water to meet the consumers’ needs. The contractor designing and operating the plant, EPS Ltd, made a number of alterations to overcome these problems, and the first speci- fied eight-day period of commission-
ing was successfully completed dur- ing June 2009,” Mr Ward explained.
“The second specified period of commissioning, for 30 days, started on Wednesday 22nd July 2009. How- ever due to a mechanical problem this had to be interrupted on 26th July. The problem was not related to the quality of the incoming raw water, but it affected the throughput of the plant. The interim treatment plant, located beside the Drumcliff spring, was used for 12 days (26th July to 6th August) to back up the new plant, and there was no effect at any time on either the quality or quantity of water being supplied to our consumers,” he added.
This is the second time in the space of four months that the plant has failed during the commissioning process. In May, problems emerged regarding the long-term capability of the plant to produce both the required quantity and quality of water.
A boil notice has been in place on the Ennis water supply since an out- break of cryptosporidium in 2005. The boil notice advises that for peo- ple regarded as immuno-compro- mised, infants, pre-school children and visitors, water should be boiled.