Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 4 Feb 1998

Vol. 154 No. 1

Adjournment Matters. - Lough Lene Water Supply.

Mr. Cassidy

I call on the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to appoint, as a matter of urgency, a consultant for the Lough Lene water treatment plant at Collinstown, County Westmeath, to improve the drinking water supply to north Meath and to north Westmeath. Lough Lene is the only inland lake in Ireland to be awarded a blue flag. The current quantity of water supplied from this source is close to 700,000 gallons per day or 255 million gallons per year. It supplies 1,250 households. A further network extension in this area is being put into existence.

The north Westmeath group water scheme, phase one, is under construction. This scheme will provide water to a further 400 households. Algae blooms occur very frequently, usually after two or three days of calm, dry weather. The water is currently fluoridated and chlorinated. With no water treatment at the site, particles of algae are taken into the water supply and when acted upon by the chlorine disinfectant, give rise to a very severe taste and odour problem. There is a very strong smell from the water supply coming from the household taps. It is extremely difficult to have confidence in the safety of this drinking water although Westmeath County Council safe to drink.

The solution in this case is the provision of a water treatment plant which will incorporate a filtering process, thereby preventing algae particles from entering the water supply. The first stage in achieving this objective is the appointment of a consulting engineer whose brief it would be to prepare a preliminary report on the various treatment options and to recommend the most appropriate one for this site.

Taking the long term county wide view, the intention would be to have three major sources of supply treated in the way that they should be for human consumption. The Lough Lene water supply is very important for the entire midlands. A water treatment plant is in place at the Shannon intake. A preliminary report has been prepared for the Lough Owel intake. It is now time to advance proposals for the Lough Lene water supply.

Lough Lene is in the constituency of the Minister of State. He is very familiar with the local geography and with the needs of the area. This is the lake district of the midlands and we are immensely proud of it. Lough Lene is the only inland lake in Ireland to be awarded the blue flag. The economy is buoyant and money is available for projects such as this. Drinking water is one of the basic necessities of daily life. It must also be borne in mind that there are two hospitals in the area in addition to a large young population. The midlands have always been proud of their clean environment but a problem has arisen with regard to this lake.

I urge the Minister to make this consultant available so he can inform the Department and the local authority, Westmeath County Council, on how we can proceed to eliminate this problem at the earliest opportunity.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. D. Wallace)

I thank Senator Cassidy for raising this important matter.

There are a couple of broader aspects of the matter to which I wish to refer. The standards and parameters for measuring the quality of water intended for human consumption are set out in EU Directive 80/778/EC. The operation and maintenance of water supplies is a matter for the local authority concerned. It is also the responsibility of local authorities to monitor drinking water for the 13 mandatory parameters specified in the directive and to monitor additional parameters such as fluoride, iron and heavy metals on a regular basis. The Environmental Protection Agency co-ordinates and analyses the results and produces an annual report on the quality of drinking water in Ireland. In its most recent report, relating to 1996, the agency pointed out that the general quality of drinking water in Westmeath is satisfactory and represented an improvement on the position in 1995.

The 1998 water and sewerage services investment programme, which was announced on Monday, is providing almost £185 million this year for water and sewerage services. This represents an increase of over 13 per cent on expenditure on these services in 1997, which was also set at a high level, and is solid evidence of the continued commitment to improving the country's environmental infrastructure and to meeting the existing and projected needs arising from residential, economic and other development.

This year's water and sewerage investment programme provides for schemes in Westmeath amounting to over £6 million to proceed to construction. These include the provision of sewerage facilities in the west bank area of Athlone, a water conservation and leakage detection scheme for Athlone and the construction of a reservoir at Annagh-Baylin. Work is already under way on two further schemes with a combined cost of more than £6 million. These schemes involve the provision of sewerage facilities for Moate and the extension of the Mullingar water supply scheme to serve Tyrellspass. It can be said that County Westmeath is getting its fair share of the funding available this year.

With regard to the matter raised, Westmeath County Council sought the Department's approval last July to appoint a consultant to investigate and report on a problem concerning an unpleasant taste in drinking water sourced from Lough Lene. The lake is the source of the water supply to Castlepollard. About 3,000 cubic meters per day are supplied. This water is chlorinated and treated. The current problems with the water sourced from Lough Lene arise from regular and intense algal blooms on the lake. My Department has sought a more detailed report from the local authority in support of the proposal and this is awaited. On receipt of this report the matter will be considered further. I hope this clarifies the position for the Senator.