Ferbane-area water supply on 'action list' amid plant upgrade

A public water supply serving more than 7,000 people in the Clara and Ferbane areas remains on a remedial action list issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as residents await the completion of a multi-million euro upgrade of the Clara water treatment plant.

For the last four years, the Clara/Ferbane Regional Water Supply Scheme has been highlighted by the EPA as one of the "at risk" drinking water supplies on its remedial action list.

The public water supply to the area serves 7,341 residents. It was placed on the action list due to concerns about elevated levels of compounds called trihalomethanes, which the HSE classifies as "possibly carcinogenic". Trihalomethanes, or THMs, are chemicals formed when organic material in treated water reacts with chlorine.

In May of this year, Uisce Éireann, in partnership with Offaly County Council, announced work had started on a €9.7 million upgrade of Clara water treatment plant, which supplies communities in Clara, Ballycumber, Ferbane, Doon, Belmont, Shannon Harbour and Shannonbridge.

Uisce Éireann said the upgrade work would "ensure compliance with current drinking water quality regulations and provide improved water quality for current and future generations" in the area.

"The works will address potential risks to water quality and enable the removal of the scheme from the EPA's remedial action list," it added.

The upgrade work is being carried out by Veolia Water Ireland, on behalf of Uisce Éireann, and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2024.

The Clara/Ferbane supply is the only public water supply in Offaly or Westmeath which is currently included on the remedial action list.

Ballymahon's water supply was on the remedial action list in recent years but was removed from the list in January of this year following an upgrade of the Ballymahon treatment plant, which supplies some 8,200 people.

On March 10, 2022, a boil water notice was put in place for more than 19,000 people supplied by the Athlone water treatment plant.

The notice was issued due to "treatment issues" at the plant, but it was lifted the following day. Uisce Éireann recently invested €5.6m in an upgrade of the treatment plant in Athlone.

In its annual drinking water report for 2022, the EPA said 481,000 people were being served by "at risk" supplies on the remedial action list last year, which was up by 107,000 on the figure from 2021.

It said persistent trihalomethane (THM) failures were detected at supplies serving 235,000 people - a doubling of the population affected since the previous year.

Despite this, the EPA concluded that the quality of drinking water from Ireland's public supplies remains "very high" in general, with over 99.7% of the samples it tested complying with bacterial and chemical limits.