Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Oct 2009

Vol. 197 No. 4

Water Quality.

Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill

This issue relates to water quality in west Donegal. While County Donegal has 27 water supply schemes, two schemes, the Rosses regional and Gortahork-Falcarragh, are badly affected by defective pipes.

I acknowledge the funding of over €200,000 provided in 2008 by the Minister of State and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to repair a stretch of pipe work in the Rosses regional supply scheme in Kincasslagh. Local residents and the council staff have informed me the funding went to good use. As a result of the improved pipe network, water quality has improved significantly.

I have, however, received a large number of representations from the Crolly area concerning water quality. In the past 48 hours, the water colour resembled a dark ale or Guinness as evidenced in these photographs I am showing to the Minister of State. Mothers had to wash their children in this type of water. To be fair, the county council has since scoured the pipes and the water has since returned to a more normal colour.

In the Rosses scheme, crystal clear water enters the pipe network from the Meenaweel filter station. The cast-iron pipes, however, in this network are rusted internally and corroded which often discolours the water provided to Crolly and other areas in the Gweedore parish which the Minister of State recently visited. Water quality is important and the consumer needs to be provided with potable water. EU directives set out quality standards for water.

Donegal County Council can fix this problem but it does not have the moneys available to it. Negotiations have been ongoing between senior staff in the council and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for pipe replacement. The cost of such a project would be between €100,000 and €150,000, not a substantial amount. The public deserves good quality drinking water and I am seeking emergency funding for this upgrade project. From engineers I understand that Crolly's water quality is the worst in County Donegal.

In Glasserchoo, the pipes are constantly bursting. As a result council staff are constantly being called out. This is a cost burden to the council and affecting the water quality for local residents.

While I appreciate the Minister of State may not be able to give a definite response on funding tonight, I hope there will be a positive outcome soon.

Deputy Michael Finneran

I thank Senator Ó Domhnaill for raising this issue as it relates to water conservation works, which the Minister and I view as vitally important work and a key element of our Department's water services investment programme.

The main objectives of the water conservation programme are to reduce water loss in the public supply networks, to obtain value for money by deferring capital expenditure on new water supply schemes through improved supply and reduced consumption and ensuring environmental protection by deferring the need to develop unnecessarily new water sources.

There are three distinct stages to water conservation on public water supply schemes. First, a local authority must put in place a water management system that enables the authority to monitor water use and loss throughout the supply networks. Second, the authority must establish an active leakage control programme, finding and fixing leaks, and, based on the results of these two stages, must establish a prioritised pipe rehabilitation strategy for its area. The third stage is the rehabilitation and replacement of defective supply networks where repair has proven to be uneconomic due to the age or condition of the pipes.

As a general rule, the Department does not authorise a local authority to undertake mains rehabilitation works unless the authority has largely implemented the water management and leakage control works necessary throughout its functional area and has completed its strategy for mains rehabilitation on a prioritised countywide basis. To date, the Department has funded water conservation works in County Donegal costing almost €8 million and additional funding of €17 million for this type of work is proposed.

Some time ago Donegal County Council submitted an application to the Department to carry out pipe replacement works on elements of the Rosses regional water supply pipe network under the water conservation programme. The proposed work involves replacement of old cast iron watermains which the council has indicated are now encrusted, reducing flows in the pipes and, when large quantities of water are drawn through, leading to increased levels of colour in the supply. It, however, has yet to fully complete its water management and leakage control works and has not finalised its prioritised county-wide strategy for mains rehabilitation. In such circumstances, my Department would not normally authorise rehabilitation work.

At a recent meeting between my Department and Donegal County Council the council again stressed the need for approval to proceed with urgent mains rehabilitation works in the Rosses region. In view of the stated urgency expressed by the council, my Department has undertaken to re-examine its proposal. A decision on the matter will be conveyed to the council as quickly as possible. In view of the incident in Crolly village last weekend when large quantities of water were required for fire-fighting purposes in the village and the resulting problems with coloured water, I have asked my Department to expedite its examination of the issue.

Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill

I look forward to hearing some good news. The Minister of State's reply is positive, which is the way I am reading it. I hope the picture I gave him will be helpful to him and his Department. I have liaised in the past couple of days with council engineers. If the Minister or the Minister of State so requires, I will be happy to bring a sample of the cast iron pipe in the boot of my car to Leinster House next week to display its condition. I will liaise personally with the Minister about this suggestion.

The Seanad adjourned at 7.55 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 8 October 2009.