Boil water notice on Achill Island is lifted
THE boil water notice on Achill Island has been lifted.
Irish Water, working in partnership with Mayo County Council, has informed customers supplied by the Achill Island public water supply that the notice issued on the supply on February 1 to accommodate planned upgrade works at the Achill water treatment plant has been lifted with immediate effect. This includes the following group water schemes: Dooniver; Saulia No. 2; Crumpaun; Dooega; Shraheens, Achill; Dugort No. 1; Dugort No. 2; Valley 1; Valley 3; Bleanaskil No. 1 and Ards Curraun.
Following completion of the improvement works at the treatment plant, followed by network flushing and verification monitoring of the water supply, customers are advised that the drinking water can now be consumed as normal.
Irish Water’s asset operations lead, Ger Greally, has thanked the locals for their patience and cooperation while the boil notice was in place: “Irish Water and Mayo County Council would like to thank the customers who were affected by this notice for their patience and cooperation while essential works were carried out at the water treatment plant and the treatment process was offline.
“Irish Water acknowledges the impact and inconvenience caused by the imposition of a boil water notice to homes and businesses. Our priority is the provision of safe, clean drinking water. Safeguarding that water supply for the future for customers on Achill Island and visitors to the island is a vital focus.”
Outlining the works completed during this phase, Martin Temple, Irish Water, explained: “There were a number of upgrades to equipment in the plant and the addition of new equipment during this phase of works, which has improved the quality of the water and the capacity of the plant to treat higher volumes of water.
“These works include the installation of clarification aids and upsizing some of the clarifier pipework as well as the installation of additional monitors and improvements in the coagulation process.
“Workshops are ongoing to assess the efficacy of these works and to determine what future works will be necessary.”
Work is also underway to reduce the level of leakage and unaccounted for water within the supply network with a dedicated find & fix team currently on the island.
Significant reductions in unaccounted for water has been made to date and Irish Water is appealing to customers on the island to assist in the identification of leaks and to inspect their own internal pipework to check for leaks.