Under pressure Achill water plant needs to be upgraded

THE water treatment plant in Achill needs to be upgraded.

Even without any visitors to the island, the system is under pressure, with three outages recently, Councillor Paul McNamara has highlighted.

Last August, demand on the Achill water treatment plant resulted in elevated levels of aluminium and turbidity being detected in the water supply.

In an update, Padraic Walsh, head of the Westport – Belmullet Municipal District, told the local councillor a major upgrade of capacity is needed at the plant.

A number of workshops have taken place with Irish Water to develop detailed proposals for how that could be done.

The council are waiting for proposals to come back on what that upgrade will entail.

Councillor McNamara said in the last four weeks there have been three outages – and that's with no influx of visitors to the area.

“The plant is not sufficient to cater for the demand in normal times, never mind at peak times,” he said.

A number of areas don't come back for up to three days when there is an outage, he added.

“The problem is not going away. It is getting worse. It is simple what is needed – an upgrade of the plant.”

The powers that be should be instructed to get it shovel ready. There will be major issues when they hit the tourist season again, he warned.