Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 March 2022
206. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the audit of water treatment plants across the country which he requested that Irish Water carry out has been finalised; if so, if he will provide the results of this audit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15653/22]
View answerFollowing two serious incidents in September 2021 at the drinking water treatment plants in Ballymore Eustace, serving parts of Dublin City and in Gorey Co. Wexford, I requested Irish Water to immediately undertake audits of the largest water treatment plants across the country.
Both of these incidents were quickly rectified. Irish Water has confirmed that it has completed audits on 37 water treatment plants with audits in progress on another 40 plants. This work is continuing and Irish Water expects to have audited 250 treatment plants by the end of 2022. Irish Water has also completed refresher training on incident management for staff operating treatment plants.
The outcome of individual audits is being managed by Irish Water and in consultation with its regulators. Irish Water has reported that the audits to date have found a need for immediate and medium-term actions at individual treatment plants. These actions vary plant-by-plant but in summary terms include measures such as improvement of instrumentation on sites linked to control systems and installing automatic shutdown systems for water treatment plants. Addressing these will give better operational control on individual treatment plants.
