Boil Water Notice on Achill Island public water supply lifted with immediate effect
Date: 26-03-2021
Irish Water working in partnership with Mayo County Council would like to inform customers supplied by the Achill Island public water supply that the Boil Water Notice issued on the supply on February 1 2021 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 Achill Water Treatment followed by network flushing and verification monitoring of the water supply, the Boil Water Notice has been lifted and Irish Water and Mayo County Council are advising customers 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 Water 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 that were 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.
Business customers will receive a 40 per cent rebate on the cost of the supply of water to their businesses for the duration of the Boil Water Notice and this will be back dated automatically to February 1 2021.
Should customers have any queries regarding the lifting of this notice they can check out the Water Supply Updates section on our website www.water.ie or contact us directly on Twitter @IWCare and via our customer care helpline which is open 24/7 on 1850 278 278.
Irish Water continues to work at this time with our Local Authority partners, contractors and others to safeguard the health and well-being of both staff and the public and to ensure the continuity of critical drinking water and wastewater services. Irish Water would like to remind people to follow the HSE COVID-19 advice and ensure frequent handwashing.