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EPA ups the ante RRUURRAALL WWAATTEERR NNEEWWSS - National Federation of Group ...
RURAL WATER NEWS

    EPA ups the ante
     National Federation
     of Group Water Schemes
                                                Magazine of the Group Water Scheme Sector
                                                                                       Autumn 2007             Volume 9                        Issue 3

Office of Environmental Enforcement identifies key issues
The EPA’s annual report on                  Improvement                     Referring      to     public     said that ‘actions must deal
drinking water quality is to        According to Ger O’Leary of           schemes, he said that the          with the root causes of prob-
become         stronger       on    the Office of Environmental           absence of chlorine monitor        lems’ and should not be ‘a
enforcement and will map            Enforcement, agreement has            alarms is an area that should      patch job’.
                                    been reached with the Health          be dealt with immediately. In        Many public plants are run-
out what needs to happen
                                    Service Executive on the cri-         addition, Mr O’Leary stressed      ning above their design
over the next number of             teria that will be applied for        the need for public schemes to     capacity, he said, adding that
years.                              placing and lifting a boil            be active on the following:        this is inconsistent with sus-
  As part of a radical over-        notice.                               • the provision of chlorine        taining drinking water quality.
haul, we are likely to see a          Speaking to delegates                  booster stations, where           And in a clear reference to
profiling of schemes consid-        attending the National Water             needed;                         the contamination crisis that
ered at risk, with three options    Summit held in Croke Park             • measuring turbidity at the       hit group schemes in the East
being presented, the most seri-     Conference Centre on 2 & 3               inflow and outflow from         Cavan DBO bundle earlier
ous being a recommendation          October, Mr O’Leary said that            treatment plants.               this year, he called for tighter
to shut down a supply where         a recent report suggests that                  Root causes               controls over the chemicals
there is serious and persistent     many water supplies are in the        Speaking about the water           used in the treatment of

                                                                                                             In this issue:
non-compliance.                     ‘high risk’ category.                 supply sector as a whole, he       drinking water.

                                                                                                                                                         Page
                                                                                                             Comment ......................................3
                                                                                                             Water matters: have your say! ....3
                                                                                                             Rural Water Conference 2007 ....4
                                                                                                             Effective management means huge
                                                                                                             savings on Cavan largest GWS ..7
                                                                                                             The legislative context explained 9
                                                                                                             Water Framework Directive:
                                                                                                             significant management issues ....11
                                                                                                             Delays in south Leinster project 13
                                                                                                             Practical measures of source
                                                                                                             protection ....................................13
                                                                                                              Make returns to Registrar ..........13
                                                                                                             Report awaited on East Cavan
                                                                                                             crisis ..............................................14
                                                                                                             Keeping members informed –
                                                                                                             for free ..........................................15
                                                                                                             Important seminars to consider
                                                                                                             regulations ....................................15
                                                                                                             The state of the RWP ................16
                                                                                                             Treatment alone is not enough ....16
                                                                                                             Updates on pilot projects ............17
                                                                                                             Regional Reports:
                                                                                                             Connacht ......................................19
                                                                                                             Ulster ............................................21
Ger O’Leary of the Office of Environmental Enforcement speaking at the National Water Summit held in Croke   Leinster ........................................24
Park conference centre on 2 & 3 October.                                                                     Munster ........................................27

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EPA ups the ante RRUURRAALL WWAATTEERR NNEEWWSS - National Federation of Group ...
Rural Water News       Autumn 2007

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EPA ups the ante RRUURRAALL WWAATTEERR NNEEWWSS - National Federation of Group ...
Comment                                                    Water Matters
Rural Water News                                                                                                             Autumn 2007

                                                                              have your say!
Can the people of Ireland be trusted with protection of the
environment and of our water courses in particular? This was
the question posed by Professor Tom Collins in a thought-pro-
voking concluding address to this year’s Rural Water Services
Conference.
                                                                          Public consultations on key      and Nenagh (Abbey Court)
Arguing for a decisive shift from ‘a water treatment philosophy
                                                                          issues affecting waterways       respectively.
to a water protection philosophy’, the Chairperson of the                                                    For further info, phone Jean
                                                                          in the Shannon River Basin
National Rural Water Monitoring Committee didn’t mince his                                                 Hartery at 061-337914, or
                                                                          District and Western River
words, stating that we (the people of Ireland) are ‘systemically                                           email info@shannonrbd.com
                                                                          Basin District will be held
untrustworthy’ when it comes to environmental issues.                                                              Western RBD
                                                                          over the next two months.
Harsh as this may sound, I doubt if there was anyone present                                               Pat Canney is the contact for
                                                                            In the Shannon RBD
at the conference (myself included) who could claim, hand on              (including a region from         the Western RBD that extends
heart, that they never knowingly did something that would                 south Cavan to north Kerry),     from Mullaghmore in Sligo to
damage the environment. You know what I mean ... the bag of               the consultation process         the Burren in Clare. He is
rubbish thrown over the hedge, the bog or other wetland                   begins in hotels in Ennis        available at 091-746804 or
infilled with spoil or building rubble, the oil poured down a             (West County) on 9 October,      ecanney@galwaycoco.ie.
drain, the septic tank that doesn’t work, the slurry spread in            followed       by    Limerick      Consultations are at 7.30pm
unsuitable conditions ... I could go on!                                  (Kilmurry Lodge) on the 10th     in Castlebar (Day’s) on 10
As Professor Collins suggested, we have been deluded into                 and Tralee (Brandon) on the      October and continue in
thinking that technology can solve every mess that we create.             11th. All start at 8pm.          November in Sligo (Sligo
We have bought into the ludicrous Victorian notion that tech-               If you have already missed     Park) on 5th; Galway City
nology can control the environment.                                       these, four other consulta-      (Radisson) on the 13th;
We need to build a new ‘civic morality’, according to                     tions take place between 22      Clifden (Station House) on
Professor Collins and the rural water sector should be to the             and 25 October, at Carrick-on-   the 15th; Ballyvaughan (St
forefront of this, setting 2020 as the target date to have                Shannon (Landmark), Mount-       John’s Community Hall) on
restored our waterways to pristine condition.                             nugent (Crover House),           the 20th and in Tuam
The Water Framework Directive will maintain a focus on this               Athlone (Prince of Wales)        (Corralea Court) on the 27th.

                                                                                       Water Well Drilling
issue for years to come, but surely we don’t have to wait for
the threat of sanctions before we start doing the right thing?
                                                                             Water Quality Improvements at Source
Locally, stakeholders need to be brought together to tackle the
issue of water pollution and there needs to be active cross-
county and cross-border co-operation to deal with river and                One of the most important tasks for any group water
lake catchments.                                                           scheme is to consider the performance of your
Let’s focus first on our drinking water sources, because there
                                                                           groundwater source in terms of quality and quantity.
has to be community buy-in to this and people are most likely             • Low-cost trial drilling can establish water supply
to buy into protection of their own drinking water source.                   and water quality prior to developing production
Begin by mapping the river catchment or aquifer, then identify               well/treatment system specification.
the risks and the potential risks. Finally, take steps to eliminate       • Cement-sealed wells prevent shallow surface-water
those risks, so that our sources can begin their recovery.                   entering a supply, reducing the risk of contamination.
The source protection pilot project at Churchill & Oram GWS               • An inert uPVC casing/
has provided valuable lessons in all of this and the team at                 screen or stainless steel
DkIT are available to share their expertise. Schemes and local               screen with gravel pack
authorities should be setting aside resources in the coming                  between screen section
year, taking the first decisive step in building a ‘civic morality’          and open hole helps pre-
and achieving the target suggested by Professor Collins.                     vent the ingress of silt/
                        Disclaimer                                           sand into a water supply.
While every care has been taken to ensure that the information             Contact the experienced
contained in this publication is up to date and correct, no                     professionals
responsibility will be taken by the National Federation of                 Patrick Briody & Sons Ltd
Group Water Schemes for any error which might occur.                       Briody Aquadrill Services
  Although grateful for the support of our advertisers, readers                    The Grove
should note that inclusion of an advertisement does not imply               Rathangan, Co. Kildare
any form of recommendation.
  We try to ensure the reliability of advertisers, but Rural              Tel. 045-524360 or 087-2589313
Water News cannot accept liability for the quality of goods and           Fax 045-524785
services offered.                                                         Web:www.briodydrilling.com

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EPA ups the ante RRUURRAALL WWAATTEERR NNEEWWSS - National Federation of Group ...
Rural Water Conference 2007
Rural Water News                                                                                                                  Autumn 2007

Minister acknowledges ‘positive impact’ of EU scrutiny
254 delegates attending the                   Action Plan
rural water conference in            Pointing to the work of the
Cavan heard Minister Tony            National      Rural       Water
Killeen, TD, acknowledge             Monitoring Committee, he
what he described as the             said that the action plan pro-
‘positive impact’ that the           duced in 2003 in response to
EU focus on water quality            the European Court of Justice
has had for Ireland.                 ruling against Ireland ‘was
  Referring to his personal          very substantially delivered
involvement as a committee           on’ and ‘superb work has
member of Kilnaboy GWS in            been done’.
County Clare and the open-             Turning to the future of the
ing earlier this year of four        sector, he continued:
DBO treatment plants in his          ‘The situation has moved
native county, the Minister          light years away from what it
said that he was struck by the       used to be. Today we are pre-
‘extraordinary change’ of            sented with very different
recent years.                        challenges and to meet those
  Having been charged with           challenges, schemes need to
responsibility for the rural         be managed in an entirely
water sector in the Department       different manner.’
of the Environment, Heritage           The quality of training will,         implementing source protec-       tion rather than confrontation
&      Local      Government,        he said, ‘be a critical issue’ in       tion and on other key areas       that we address these crucial
Minister Killeen told confer-        ensuring quality delivery of            affecting the rural water sec-    matters.’
ence delegates EU scrutiny           rural water services.                   tor. He concluded:                    Management theme
has ‘acted as a catalyst’ for          The Minister made a plea to           ‘I would like to think that       Following on from the
the transformation taking            GWS Boards of Management                notwithstanding the provi-        Minister’s address, the need
place in the sector and should       and to local authorities to             sions of the new regulations,     for effective management
be welcomed for that reason.         work closely together on                it will be through co-opera-      was echoed in contributions
                                                                                                               from conference speakers.
                                                                                                                 In the course of a sectoral
                                                                                                               overview, NFGWS Research
                                                                                                               & Development Officer,
                                                                                                               Brian MacDonald, cautioned
                                                                                                               against complacency, arguing
                                                                                                               that while there had been
                                                                                                               great strides in terms of put-
                                                                                                               ting physical infrastructure in
                                                                                                               place, the managerial chal-
                                                                                                               lenge is emerging as a new
                                                                                                               priority for group water
                                                                                                               schemes.
                                                                                                                 Stating that water treatment
                                                                                                               should only be regarded as ‘a
                                                                                                               step in the right direction’, he
                                                                                                               said that the Cryptosporidium
                                                                                                               outbreak in County Galway
                                                                                                               and East Cavan’s Phenol
                                                                                                               contamination crisis had
                                                                                                               exposed the fact that things
Above: Prior to the conference, Minister Tony Killeen, TD, and his officials met with representatives of the   can and will go wrong and
Water Services National Training Group and the National Federation of Group Water Schemes. Pictured, front
row (l-r) Terry Allen (DoEHLG), Terry Ó Niadh (WSNTG), Minister Killeen and Brendan O’Mahony
                                                                                                               schemes must prepare to deal
(NFGWS). Back row (l-r) Carthage Cusack (DoEHLG), Tom Kirby (WSNTG) and Seán Clerkin (NFGWS).                  with setbacks and to learn
Top right: WSNTG Chairperson, Terry Ó Niadh made a presentation to Minister Killeen following his address.     from them.

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EPA ups the ante RRUURRAALL WWAATTEERR NNEEWWSS - National Federation of Group ...
Rural Water News                                                                                                                Autumn 2007

  ‘This will require consistent       This was the question               an agreed contract offers the       The restructured subsidy
management’,         he    said,    posed to GWS committees               best way forward.                 will, she said, go some way
adding:                             by NFGWS Health & Safety                      Resentment                to addressing this, but regard-
‘In addition to managing the per-   Officer, Karen Mulkeen, as            She warned, however, that         less of any obstacles, it is
formance of their treatment sys-    she made the case for the             employment of a manager           crucial that GWS committees
tem (whether DBO or not),           employment of paid man-               may raise issues in relation to   recognise that this is the only
schemes must manage sources         agers ‘to ease the burden on          finance and potential resent-     sustainable course if they are
to maintain quality and quantity    our voluntary activists’.             ment, as someone is now           to meet the requirements of
of supply, manage water quality       While voluntarism was,              being paid to do work that oth-   the recently-introduced legis-
in the network, manage the net-     and would remain, ‘the                ers formerly did for nothing.     lation and regulations.
work itself to avoid wastage and    bedrock’ of a group water
manage finances and the wider       scheme, the range of tasks
business affairs of their co-       facing a GWS in securing a
operative.’                         licence and managing their
  Mr MacDonald concluded            business, meant that volun-
that the new subsidy negoti-        tarism alone is simply not
ated between the Federation         sustainable, she said.
and the Department is                 Ms Mulkeen told delegates
expected to reflect the grow-       that to secure a licence, water
ing need for effective man-         service providers will have to
agement in all group water          consistently       demonstrate
schemes.                            quality water and quality
   Preparing for licensing          consumer service achived
‘Can you, with hand on heart        through quality management.
say that there will be others         Listing almost 30 specific
prepared to do all that is          tasks facing a group scheme
required when you step              in meeting these obligations,
down, bearing in mind that          she said that a manager
each year more and more is          qworking under the dirfec-            National Water Services Project Manager, Kevin Reilly, chaired the
required?’                          tion of a GWS Board and to            second session at the conference.

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                                                                      5
EPA ups the ante RRUURRAALL WWAATTEERR NNEEWWSS - National Federation of Group ...
Rural Water News       Autumn 2007

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EPA ups the ante RRUURRAALL WWAATTEERR NNEEWWSS - National Federation of Group ...
Effective management means huge
Rural Water News                                                                                                           Autumn 2007

  savings on Cavan’s largest GWS
Cavan’s largest group water
scheme has managed to
save its consumers about
€230,000 annually by
reducing water wastage
through its distribution net-
work and there are plans for
further savings in the
months ahead.
  This was the message
delivered by Erne Valley
GWS manager, Mairéad
Sheridan, whose presentation
to     the    Rural    Water
Conference underlined what
schemes can achieve through
appointing a dedicated man-
ager and maintenance staff.
      Erne Valley GWS
With almost 1,600 connec-
tions, of which 1,140 serve a
domestic dwelling (some-         Mairéad Sheridan, Manager of Erne Valley GWS, pictured with Cathage Cusack of the DoEHLG.

times in addition to a farm-     the Baker’s successful busi-         committee was to reduce           with high usage were alerted
yard), Erne Valley is one of     ness in Granard meant that           daily demand to a level           that they might have leaks.
Ireland’s biggest group water    she had ample experience in          where the treatment plant         Similarly, those with unautho-
schemes.                         business management.                 could become operational.         rised connections were urged
  Its 240 km network links a       Working closely with the             In additon to completing        to regularise their situation or
large rural of south west        committee, she began to              the universal metering con-       face the consequences,
Cavan. Formerly, this region     implement a plan to have             tract, this required the          including legal action and
was served by two schemes        quality treated water flowing        appointment of a dedicated        disconnection!
Gartylough      GWS       and    to homes across the scheme           caretaker to deal with main-        Since the waste reduction
Brusky/Killydoon GWS, but        at the earliest opportunity.         tenance and repairs on an         programme began, daily
in 2005, these amalgamated         As things stood, the new           ongoing basis. In August          demand has dropped to 3,300
to form Erne Valley GWS.         state-of-the-art water treat-        2006, John Masterson was          m3 (726,000 gallons) across
  Following amalgamation, a      ment plant could not be              appointed to this position fol-   the entire network, a 42%
major upgrade programme          switched on, because of mas-         lowing normal recruitment         reduction! In terms of the
began, including construc-       sive water loss along the dis-       procedures.                       financial benefit, the scheme
tion of a treatment plant, an    tribution network.                     In little over a year since     is saving about €230,000
11-km interconnecting pipe                  Demand                    then, 500 leaks have been         annually on the volumetric
and universal metering.          At the time of her appoint-          detected and dealt with. More     payment to the treatment
  To oversee these works, the    ment, daily demand stood at          significantly, the completion     plant operator.
new 15-strong committee          a staggering 5,700 m3 (1.25          of the universal metering           Mairéad Sheridan revealed
moved quickly to employ a        million gallons) per day,            programme meant that the          that with a further ongoing
part-time manager.               more than twice the design           GWS has been able to move         programme of replacing
          Candidate              demand. The capacity of the          away from its former flat-rate    defective mains, installing
After a process of advertising   new treatment plant was              billing system to a charging      pressure reduction valves and
and interviews, Mairéad          3,500 m3 (770,000 gallons),          policy based on usage.            establishing district (bulk)
Sheridan emerged as the suc-     but it could reach 4,400 m3                      Meters                meter areas across the
cessful candidate and was        (968,000 gallons) peak               As soon as the meters             scheme, it is hoped to
appointed on 8 May 2006.         demand.                              became operational, they          achieve a 3,000 (660,000) m3
  Her experience in the            The priority for Mairéad           were read by committee            daily demand by the end of
accounts department of Pat       Sheridan and the Erne Valley         members and those members         this year.

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EPA ups the ante RRUURRAALL WWAATTEERR NNEEWWSS - National Federation of Group ...
Rural Water News                                                      Autumn 2007

           Benefits             with algae, should the problem
Apart from financial savings,   re-occur,      but    Mairéad
the benefits of an effective    Sheridan told delegates that
management strategy were        her objective as manager will
witnessed when unforeseen       be to get to the cause of the
problems arose after the        problem and to recommend
treatment plant was switched    the introduction of appropriate
in April this year.             source protection measures.
  An unprecedented algal                 Information
bloom hit Garty lough, the      Consumer education is clearly
scheme’s source in June and     high on her agenda. Besides
again in August. The treat-     issuing bills detailing the
ment plant hadn’t been          volume of water through the
designed to deal with this      meter, all members will
problem and there was no        receive a newsletter in
option but to shut it down      advance of the AGM.
temporarily on both occa-         Mairéad Sheridan accepted
sions.                          that her role requires positive
  The manager’s task was to     support from a range of
address the public health       people, not least the water
issues involved, ensure a       services section of Cavan
flow of information to the      County Council.
committee and the wider           She concluded by paying
membership, organise the        tribute to the committee of
scouring of lines after the     Erne Valley GWS and to
events, as well as working      John Masterson, for ensuring
with the service provider       that the scheme is on its way
(EPS) to find a solution.       to achieving quality water
  The treatment system is       and a quality service through
now being expanded to cope      effective management.

                                                                  8
EPA ups the ante RRUURRAALL WWAATTEERR NNEEWWSS - National Federation of Group ...
Explaining the
                                                                                                                                      Autumn 2007

  legislative
Rural Water News

                                                                                      Water Services Act             The full enforcement of the
                                                                                 In recent years, Pat Keane of     provisions of the Act in tersm
                                                                                 the Water Services Policy         of the licensing of group

    context
                                                                                 Section of the DoEHLG has         water schemes will follow
                                                                                 become a familiar face to         production of appropriate
                                                                                 rural water activists.            guidelines, Mr Keane said.
                                                                                   A key figure in drafting the        Habitats & Heritage
                                                                                 Water Service Bill as it          A legislative area that has not
                                                                                 appeared before the Houses        figured largely in the minds
                                                                                 of the Oireachtas (and in         of rural water activists, but
                                                                                 redrafting it on its tortuous     has presented major chal-
This year’s conference                 Authority can also issue
                                                                                 route towards enactment), he      lenges to GWS upgrades in
broke new ground when a                directions in relation to water
                                                                                 returned this September to        some areas, is the protection
representative       of    the         treatment.
                                                                                 explain the measure as it was     afforded to designated areas
Environmental Protection                 The regulations also require
                                                                                 finally enacted and signed        and heritage sites.
Agency addressed delegates.            an ‘immediate investigation’
                                                                                 into law on 14 May.                 Oliver Fogarty, a senior
  Darragh Page, an Inspector           into the cause of a problem
                                                                                          Operational              advisor in the DoEHLG,
with the environmental                 where remedial action is
                                                                                 Amongst its operational pro-      addressed the sometimes con-
watchdog outlined the impli-           called for and a strict
                                                                                 visions, the Act allows a local   flicting claims of public
cations for the rural water            timescale is laid down for the
                                                                                 authority (WSA) to close, or      health and the legal protec-
sector of the European                 preparation by the group
                                                                                 order remediation, of polluted    tion afforded to particular
Communities         (Drinking          scheme of an ‘action plan’.
                                                                                 drinking water sources.           designated sites and species,
Water) Regulations, 2007.              This plan may then be
                                                                                   Where there is a temporary      and outlined a protocol that
  Explaining that local                amended.
                                                                                 interruption of supply that       should applied in such cases.
authorities are to be Water                        Offences                      exceeds 24 hours, an alterna-       Apart from 60 different
Supervisory Authorities for            Mr Page detailed a series of              tive source of domestic drink-    habitats, including turloughs,
group schemes, he said that            offences under the regula-                ing water must be provided.       raised bogs, blanket bogs,
under the regulations, they            tions. Amongst these, it is an              A WSA has strengthened          clean lakes and limestone
have strengthened powers of            offence ‘to fail to carry out a           acquisition powers under the      pavement, protection is given
enforcement, new powers of             direction to prevent, limit,              Act. This includes power to       to 25 endangered species,
direction and the ability to           eliminate or abate a risk to              acquire a waterworks where        including otters, bats, salmon
impose sanctions.                      health’.                                  two-thirds of the members of      and freshwater pearl mussels.
   A Water Supervisory                   Similarly, failure to prepare           a GWS agree.                      International conventions
Authority (WSA) can now                and implement an action pro-                ‘Orphan’ schemes (where         (signed up to by Ireland)
direct a water supplier to             gramme, inform consumers                  there is no active committee)     mean that, when planning
keep and submit records                about remedial action, main-              can be taken-in-charge, while     development, special consid-
relating to :                          tain records of incidents, or to          a WSA has power to take           eration must be given to these
• Management and treat-                make records available to                 over management of a              and to archaeological sites.
   ment of water                       supervisory authorities, are              scheme on a temporary basis,        A water service provider,
• Monitoring results                   all deemed an offence.                    and to charge the costs           for example, would have to
• Corrective actions                     Under Regulation 19, it is              involved to the scheme.           demonstrate conclusively that
• Disinfection                         an offence to:                              Under the Act, it an offence    no alternative existed when
• Information for inclusion            • refuse access to an autho-              to damage pipes or tamper         carrying out an essential
   on the Register                         rised person                          with meters. Those wishing        upgrade that might impact on
        Risk to health                 • obstruct/impede an autho-               to build over pipes will          any of the above.
Where there is a risk to health            rised person.                         require consent to do so.                   Continued on page 11
the WSA (in consultation               • give false or misleading
with the Health Service Exec-              information to an autho-
utive) can now direct a water              rised person.
supplier to take appropriate           • fail to comply with a direc-
measures to prevent, limit,                tion from an authorised
eliminate or abate that risk.              person.
  Where it considers it appro-         All of the above offences
private, a Water Supervisory           carry financial penalties.
Oppsite page (from top) Alex McDonell of Mayo was one of many del-
gates to participate in question & answer sessions; Members of
Townawully GWS with Donegal Rural Water Liaison Officer, Mary
McDermott; Delegates used breaks in the conference to renew old
acquaintances and to share information; NFGWS Chairperson, Brendan
O’Mahony in conversation with Professor Tom Collins.
This page: (left) Darragh Page, the first EPA representative to address an
annual rural water services conference; (right) Pat Keane, DoEHLG.

                                                                             9
EPA ups the ante RRUURRAALL WWAATTEERR NNEEWWSS - National Federation of Group ...
Rural Water News        Autumn 2007

                   10
Explaining                       Water Framework Directive
Rural Water News                                                                                                                   Autumn 2007

      the
  legislative                      Significant management issues
    context                      When it comes to the
                                 timetable for implementing
         Continued from page 9   the Water Framework
The best way for schemes         Directive, Ireland is to the
(or local authorities) to        fore, but the critical factor
avoid problems in this area      will be our success in
is to check in advance if the    restoring our waterways to
proposed site for infra-         at least ‘good status’ by
structural work falls within     2015.
a designated area.                 This was the message
  Mr Fogarty explained that      delivered to conference dele-
a search on the National         gates by Pat Duggan of the
Parks and Wildlife Service       DoEHLG, in an overview of
website (www.npws.ie) will       key water management
clarify matters, as this lists   issues that need to be
and provides GIS mapping         addressed in river basin man-
of every Natural Heritage        agement plans.
Area (NHAs), Special Areas                  At risk
of Conservation (SACs) and       Some 61% of our groundwa-
Special Protection Areas         ter resources are at risk, and
(SPAs). It can be searched by    those risks are significant in
                                                                       Following publication in June of the excellent booklet Water matters: have
county and by grid within        several regions.
                                                                       your say!, each River Basin District is currently organising a public con-
                                                                       sultation process. See page 3.
each county.                       Similarly, 64% of surface
            Protocol             water are at risk, especially
The need for the works must
                                 in Leinster.
be measured against the
                                   A range of management
potential impact. The ele-
                                 issues arise, from control of
ments of a protocol, there-
                                 wastewater and industrial
fore, include:
                                 discharges to abstraction
• Screening
• Examination of alterna-        policies and dealing with
    tives                        both point source and diffuse
• Environmental Impact           pollution.
    Assessment                     A fuller article on this
• Decision                       paper and on the public
• Mitigation/compensatory        consultation around the
    habitat                      WFD will be carried in our
• Derogation.                    next issue.

Oliver Fogarty, DoEHLG.          Pat Duggan, DoEHLG.

                                                                  11
Rural Water News        Autumn 2007

                   12
Delays                           Practical measures of
Rural Water News                                                                                                                  Autumn 2007

                                      source protection
  in south
  Leinster
   Project                         The       National      Source
                                   Protection Pilot Project at
                                   Churchill & Oram GWS has
The first treatment plants         entered a new phase, with
have been commissioned in
                                   practical measures for
the South Leinster DBO
bundle, but delays have            source protection appearing
meant that the overall con-        throughout the catchment.
struction programme has              Simple cost-effective initia-
already been extended by           tives are currently being
several months.                    installed at a large number of
              EPS                  sites.
The DBO contactor, EPS, has          Over the summer, the DkIT
commissioned plants on the         project team walked all river-
Clifden, Castleinch and            banks throughout the catch-
Cuffesgrange Group Water           ment and identified and meas-
Schemes in Kilkenny.               ured accurately the amount of
  These are expected to be         riverside that would benefit
followed in a few weeks by         from simple fencing and the
the     commissioning         of   installation of buffer strips,
Castlewarren (Kilkenny), St.       where appropriate.                   A borehole drilled at a septic tank is surrounded with Bentonite to pre-
Mullins Parish (Carlow) and          This simple initiative will        vent pollutants entering the borehole. Inset: The finished ‘intrusive
Kilanerin (Wexford) plants.        ensure that direct cattle access     inspection’ point scarcely disturbs the surrounding lawns or field.
  The commissioning phase          to rivers is prevented and will      than ever before on the inner       as little disturbance as possi-
is welcomed by the schemes         allow any impacted sites to          workings of septic tanks and        ble to the home-owner and
involved, as there have been       recover quickly.                     their potential impact on           involve borehole drilling to
numerous delays during the           Wherever cattle access is          water quality.                      map the groundwater table
construction phase.                restricted, drinkers are being         ‘Non-intrusive’ and ‘intru-       and define soil profiles.
  Some of the original target      installed to ensure a plentiful      sive’ examinations of septic                   Livestock
dates programmed by the            supply of water.                     tanks are continuing and            The piping is normally cut
contractor were not met, partly      In addition to this, soil test-    progress has been swift,            down to ground level and pro-
due to problems in appointing      ing and nutrient management          mainly due to the high level        tected from livestock distur-
sub contractors and drillers.                                           of community support and co-        bance with a concrete block.
            Revised                plans are available to all farm-
EPS has now submitted a            ers to wish to partake of them.      operation offered.                  These boreholes are also pro-
revised programme to the end              Septic tank survey              The ‘non-intrusive’ studies       viding samples for analysis of
of the contract and this is cur-   Another on-going initiative is       are no more than visual             soil and groundwater.
rently being reviewed by the       the broadening of the septic         inspections with associated         At the end of the sampling
client’s representative.           tank survey taking place in          measurements and calcula-           period, the boreholes will be
  The recent appointment by        the catchment.                       tions, while the ‘intrusive’        decommissioned and there
EPS of a dedicated full-time         This part of the project is        inspections (see pictures           will be no evidence left to
Project Manager (Eamon             placing a greater emphasis           above) are designed to create       suggest they were ever there.

                                   Make returns
Connolly) is likely to acceler-
ate progress.                                                           whom deregistration would                  Electronic forms

                                   to Registrar
  Civil construction is ongo-                                           be both costly and time-con-        The Registry of Friendly
ing on five sites at present.                                           suming.                             Societies has now posted a
Nineteen schemes (mainly                                                  NFGWS development offi-           number of its official forms
PWS) are at or near comple-        26 co-operative group water          cers have contacted the             on the Companies Registration
tion with mechanical and           schemes in 12 counties face          schemes involved.                   Office website, including the
electrical equipment now           being struck off the Registry          Other      schemes      are       forms for annual and triennial
being installed.                   of Friendly Societies for fail-      reminded to double-check            returns. Both PDF and ‘fill-
  All the advance works are        ure to make returns. Amongst         that their returns have been        able’ Word format versions
complete apart from some           the schemes listed are a num-        processed by their auditor          are available.
schemes that are carrying out      ber that are actively involved       and have been forwarded to          See the CRO website at
universal metering.                in DBO contracts and for             the office of the Registrar.        http://www.cro.ie

                                                                   13
Report awaited on
                                                                                                                                   Autumn 2007

East Cavan crisis
Rural Water News

                                                                        (one of the schemes hit by the        favour of introducing addi-
                                                                        contamination crisis) and the         tional regulations if this was
                                                                        Federation representative.            necessary.
                                                                          Responding to Mr Brady’s                     Monitoring
                                                                        argument that inherent weak-          The Minister added that he is
While there is no sign, as        nols and other undesirable            nesses in the monitoring and          also examining the area of
yet, of the final report on       chemicals and by-products,            regulation of chemicals used          the monitoring of water treat-
the phenol contamination          seriously delayed efforts to          in drinking water need to be          ment products and stated that
crisis that hit five group        address the East Cavan crisis.        urgently addressed, Minister          he is actively considering the
                                                                        Gormley said that he is cur-          resourcing of an appropriate
schemes in the East Cavan               Regulatory body
                                                                        rently examining this whole           inspectorate to deal with this
DBO bundle earlier this           Similarly, the non-existence
                                                                        area and that he would be in          issue.
year, the incident has put a      of a regulatory body to over-
spotlight on all chemicals        see the production and sale of
used in drinking water treat-     chemicals used in water
ment.                             treatment is an issue that the
  Speaking to delegates at the    NFGWS wants to see
National Water Summit in          addressed.
Dublin on 3 October, Gerard         This was one of several
O’Leary of the Environmental      points raised by the
Enforcement Agency, said          Federation’s Deputy National
that there is a case to be made   Co-ordinator, Colm Brady,
for adding phenols to the         when he met Environment
range of substances to be         Minister, John Gormley, in
watched out for in Irish drink-   Monaghan on 20 July.
ing water supplies.                 This informal meeting was
  It is generally accepted that   organised through local
the absence of monitoring         Green Party Councillor,
and the lack of adequate lab-     Vincent P. Martin and in              Pictured following an informal meeting to discuss issues arising from the
                                                                        phenol contamination crisis are (l-r)) Cllr Vincent P. Martin, Glaslough/
oratory facilities in Ireland     cluded a representative of            Tyholland Chairperson, Peter Sherry, NFGWS Deputy National Co-
capable of identifying phe-       Glaslough/Tyholland GWS               ordinator, Colm Brady, and Environment Minister, John Gormley, TD.

                                                                   14
Keeping                                Important seminars to
Rural Water News                                                                                                                   Autumn 2007

members                                  consider regulations
informed
– for free
                                    The       Drinking       Water                     Committee                  The impact of the Water
                                    Regulations and their impli-             A committee representing the       Services Act will also be
                                    cations for licensing will be            Department          of       the   addressed.
                                    the focus of four important              Environment, the NFGWS,                        Venues
                                    regional seminars for the                the EPA and other rural            Where a GWS is unable to
                                    rural water sector to be held            water stakeholders, has been       attend the seminar at their
Group water schemes wish-           in the near future.                      working in recent months,          designated venue, they may
ing to keep members updat-            Rural Water News under-                drawing up appropriate             attend an alternative venue
ed on developments such as          stands that the seminars will            guidelines.                        by prior arrangement. Venues
disruptions to supply, forth-       deal in detail with critical               According to Pat Keane of        are as follows (dates to be
coming meetings, quality            issues for the future of rural           the DoEHLG (a member of            confirmed in due course):
                                                                             this committee), the seminars      • Hotel Kilmore, Cavan
information and suchlike,           drinking water supplies and
                                    that two representatives from            are being designed to:             • McWilliam Park Hotel,
may do so at no financial
                                    each GWS will be invited to              • explain the Drinking                Claremorris
cost and with very little
                                    attend.                                      Water Regulations;             • Hotel Kilkenny, Kilkenny,
effort.
                                      An implementation circular             • outline the role and             • Lynch South Court Hotel,
  The days of writing letters,
stuffing envelopes, addressing      and a handbook outlining                     responsibilities of local         Limerick
and posting them may not be         how the Drinking Water                       authorities as Supervisory     The seminars are to be held
quite over yet, but the prolif-     Regulations will be imple-                   Authority in their area, and   in the evenings (starting at
eration of mobile phones            mented is scheduled for                  • focus on what is expected        7.30pm) to facilitate atten-
means that new technologies         release prior to the seminars                of the individual GWS          dance by GWS management
can be used to send routine or      taking place.                                under the regulations.         committees.
emergency         information       could make significant sav-              informed of training, match        Counties (schemes in border
quickly and relatively cheaply.     ings, but more importantly               venues etc. through text.          areas, please note!).
  In fact, the secretary/man-       members will receive infor-                Jean has a pay-as-you-go           The message doesn’t have
ager of your GWS can send           mation speedily, as required.            mobile and after registering       to be sent immediately, but
up to 300 free text messages                  Whizz-kid                      with her provider via comput-      can be scheduled to send at
monthly, simply by register-        So how does it work? Well                er, she was supplied with a        any time or date within the
ing through the website of          NFGWS Quality Assurance                  password. When she needs to        calendar month. So if you
their mobile provider.              Scheme Officer, Jean Gibson,             communicate with the panel,        swan off to Costa-del-
  For their part, O2 provide        is a whizz-kid when it comes             she simply goes into her com-      Wherever, a reminder of a
250 free text messages              to this sort of thing. She has           puter, enters her password         planned meeting will be trans-
monthly, while Vodafone and         been using free web-texting              and then types her text mes-       mitted regardless, because
Meteor give their customers         in her role as secretary of her          sage into the box provided.        you entered it before you left!
300. Using a dedicated phone        local camogie club for some              This is then sent to everybody              Limitations
for this purpose, schemes           time now. Club members are               in her camogie folder.             Like any system, there are
                                                                               Folders will include the         limitations. First, the usual
                                                                             names and mobile numbers of        character limit of texting
                                                                             each member. According to          apply, so you can’t send a
                                                                             Jean, a scheme might simply        long letter. Secondly, and
                                                                             create a separate folder for       most importantly, there will
                                                                             each district meter area, as       be gaps as some of your
                                                                             well as an overall folder.         members, particularly elderly
                                                                             Thus, when there is essential      people, won’t have mobile
                                                                             maintenance work on a sec-         phones. These gaps should be
                                                                             tion of the distribution net-      noted and care taken that a
                                                                             work, only consumers on that       neighbour or committee
                                                                             section are informed.              member alerts them of the
                                                                               It doesn’t matter that vari-     contents of the text message.
                                                                             ous panel members will have          Finally, if you’re like me
                                                                             other brands of phone; the         and can’t quite master the
                                                                             messages are delivered to any      technology, do what I do …
Similar web-text messages can be sent to your GWS members at no cost.        mobile phone in the 26             ask a youngster to help you.

                                                                        15
The state of
   the RWP
Rural Water News                                                                                                             Autumn 2007

The case presented to the       Mr Cusack, the latest date
European Commission in          being 31 December 2008.
June provided much of the                Compliance
core data presented to the      There was heartening news
                                in relation to compliance
Rural Water Conference by
                                with the crucial e-coli stan-
Carthage Cusack of the          dards. Recent monitoring has
Water Services Section,

                                                                       Treatment alone
                                shown 626 schemes (86%) in             Quality Assurance Scheme training was introduced on Tydavnet GWS
DoEHLG.                         compliance, with 102 (14%)             this summer. Jean Gibson (NFGWS Quality Assurance Officer) is pic-
  Detailing progress under in   non-compliant.                         tured with Claire Sherlock (Tydavnet GWS) and Dr Siobhán Jordan
bringing schemes into com-        Translated into households,
                                                                       (National Source Protection Pilot Project).

                                                                        is not enough
pliance with water quality      92% (80,997) are receiving
standards, Mr Cusack also       water that complies with the
provided an account of the      ecoli standard, while 7,270
financial drawdown under        (8%) are not.
the RWP Capital Investment        Cautioning that there is
Programme in 2007.              more to do, Mr Cusack said
            Sector              that while great progress has
                                                                       For any group scheme that          and recording approach to
A total of 728 privately-       been made, the threat of EU
sourced schemes, supplying
                                                                       thought the provision of           quality assurance’.
                                sanctions still hangs over
                                                                       state-of-the-art treatment           In essence, it involves the
50 persons or more (encom-      Ireland.
                                                                       facilities was the answer to       identification of present or
passing more than 88,000                     Spend
                                                                       their water quality problems,      possible hazards and formu-
households), come under the     The drawdown of funds
                                                                       the stark message from             lates the steps which may be
terms of the legislation.       under the 2007 RWP alloca-
                                                                       NFGWS Quality Assurance            taken to minimise or elimi-
  Of these, 451 scheme were     tion had increased more than
                                                                       Officer, Jean Gibson, was          nate them.
listed in Annex 14 as part of   5% on the same period in
the case adjudicated on by      2006, with more than 38%               that treatment of itself can-         EPA Recommendation
the European Court of           allocated to early September.          not guarantee quality at the       Jean Gibson reminded dela-
Justice in November 2002.         Having said that, Mr                 consumer’s tap.                    gates that the EPA strongly
  A further 277 schemes         Cusack pointed out that six              Even in the most modern of       recommends that every GWS
(mainly in southern counties)   councils had not drawn down            schemes, it is not possible to     should obtain certification
have been added to this list.   a penny!                               deliver quality drinking           under the NFGWS Quality
  The upgrade plans set           The highest rate of spending         water without monitoring,          Assurance Scheme.
down in the National Rural      has been under the ‘new &              checking, inspecting and             Until now, the absence of
Water Monitoring Committee      upgrade’ and ‘small scheme’            auditing: control is essential     adequate treatment on most
Action Plan 2003-2006 con-      headings (54% and 44%                  to ensure success.                 schemes, meant that imple-
tinue to be implemented.        respectively), while spending            According to Ms Gibson,          mentation of this recommen-
  In terms of households, the   on ‘connection to public               maintaining quality along the      dation had to be put on hold.
upgrading programme is now      mains’, ‘takeover’ and ‘disin-         distribution network is              As most schemes now have
completed in respect of         fection/sterilisation’ was dis-        emerging as a new priority         water treatment in place (or
60,684 homes. For a further     appointingly low (20.5%,               and the Quality Assurance          will shortly have it) the QA
10,391 homes, upgrades are      23% and 1% respectively).              Scheme is tailor-made for          scheme is scheduled to be
currently underway.               More encouraging, spend-             this, as it targets schemes that   rolled out in the coming
  Projects that will benefit    ing on DBO and advance                 are providing fully treated        weeks and months.
17,000 homes are still at a     DBO projects (40.66% and               water to their consumers.            Schemes in Monaghan,
planning stage, but for         35% respectively) was well                          HACCP                 Cavan, Sligo and Limerick
11,000 of those the planning    up on last year.                       The Hazard Analysis Critical       are being targetted in the first
process is at an advanced         Mr Cusack concluded by               Contol Points (HACCP) sys-         instance.
stage.                          asking local authorities to            tem that forms the basis of          Ms Gibson concluded by
  Timescales for the comple-    focus on the priority measures         the       NFGWS         Quality    reminding schemes that QA
tion of all remaining           required to bring existing             Assurance Scheme provides          certification will be a condi-
upgrades were revealed by       schemes into compliance.               a ‘systematic preventative         tion of subsidy in future.

                                                                  16
Updates on pilot projects
Rural Water News                                                                                                                 Autumn 2007

Delegates to the Rural             the success of the project to            months before the true worth
Water Services Conference          date, the preliminary figures            of the system could be prop-
heard stimulating updates          are encouraging to say the               erly assessed.
on three important pilot           least.                                     Rural Water News will
projects being run under the         A trial has been established           carry a full feature at that
auspices of the National           on      the     outskirts      of        stage.
Rural Water Monitoring             Templemore, Co. Tipperary,                  Rainwater harvesting
                                   the site deliberately chosen
Committee.                                                                  As the cost of water rises, the
                                   because it presented many
           STEDS                                                            potential of using rainwater
                                   difficult challenges.
While not directly related to                                               as an alternative non potable
                                     The STEDS system was
the issue of water supply, the                                              supply is being tested in a
                                   retrofitted on almost 30
Septic      Tank       Effluent                                             project being conducted in a
                                   homes. Construction includ-
Drainage System (STEDS)                                                     domestic setting (a house in
                                   ed installation of a fibreglass
project in North Tipperary is                                               Ballinabranna GWS, County
                                   reinforced interceptor tank at
of major interest to the rural     each property, a 2” pipe net-            Carlow) and an agricultural       Matt Shortt
water sector, as its outcome is    work laid at a shallow depth             setting (a dairy farm at          system met the demand for
certain to have a bearing on       along the contours of the land           Clonalvy, County Meath).          toilet flushing, with mains
the future of dispersed settle-    and a secondary man-made                   The project is being run by     water usage being reduced by
ment in the Irish countryside.     treatment system on a site               Dublin       Institute       of   between 22% -41%.
  The damaging environ-            that is a fraction of the size of        Technology and three team           Problems with ammonia
mental impact of domestic          a normal wastewater treat-               members, Dr Seán Ó hÓgáin,        and faecal contamination on
wastewater treatment systems       ment plant.                              Liam McCarton and Anna            the Clonalvy system are cur-
(septic tanks) is no longer in       In theory, the interceptor             Reid addressed the confer-        rently being addressed with
dispute and STEDS is testing       tank retains the problems that           ence.                             the fitting of an improved fil-
a simple procedure to prevent      arise in normal systems, so                At the domestic site, after a   tration system and better
that damage.                       that what is pumped from the             six month commissioning           sealing around the intake
  And while Project Director       tank into the network won’t              phase, the quality of the         pipe.
Matt Shortt of North               cause blockages.                         water achieved a level com-         The cost-benefit analysis is
Tipperary County Council             Mr Shortt said that it would           parable with drinking water.      continuing and a full report
was careful not to overstate       take about another six                     In terms of quantity, the       on this project will be carried
                                                                                                              in our next issue.
                                                                                                                    Source Protection
                                                                                                              Freshly returned from a
                                                                                                              major Canadian conference
                                                                                                              where the National Source
                                                                                                              Protection Pilot Project at
                                                                                                              Churchill & Oram GWS was
                                                                                                              one of the featured topics, Dr
                                                                                                              Siobhán Jordan provided a
                                                                                                              comprehensive overview of
                                                                                                              the broad range of activities
                                                                                                              being carried out as part of
                                                                                                              this project.
                                                                                                                Since the last conference
                                                                                                              farmward surveys had been
                                                                                                              completed in the catchment,
                                                                                                              as has extensive soil sam-
                                                                                                              pling.
                                                                                                                More recently, 181 septic
                                                                                                              tanks were examined, while
                                                                                                              more intrusive inspection has
                                                                                                              begun on some of these.
                                                                                                                Trial source protection
Members of the Rainwater Harvesting Project team from Dublin Institute of Technology who addressed dele-      measures are currently being
gates to the Rural Water Services Conference (l-r) Liam McCarton, Anna Reid and Dr Seán Ó hÓgáin.             implemented, she said.

                                                                       17
Rural Water News        Autumn 2007

                   18
Rural Water News                                                                                                                  Autumn 2007

           Blue Hills Consulting is one of the leading consulting engineers providing technical advice to the Group
          Water Scheme sector. We shall be happy to discuss your Group Water Scheme projects regardless of size.
                                       Please contact Des Joyce for further information.

   Regional
   10b Northwest Business and Technology Park                        T:     071 962 1875                   W: www.bluehills.ie
   Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim                                   F:     071 962 2859                   E : info@bluehills.ie
                                                 ***                      2 – installation of intercon-      servation infrastructure on

   Reports
                                    Construction is substantially         necting pipework, rising           Barnarusheen and Cleggan –
                                    complete on advance works             mains and water conservation       is also nearing completion.
                                    contract no. 1. This contract         infrastructure on Milltown                       ***

     Connacht
                                    involved the installation of          and Caherlistrane – is sub-        The 4th meeting of the
                                    water conservation infra-             stantially complete. Bulk          Galway DBO 1 LMC was

      Region
                                    structure on all schemes in           meter installation is ongoing,     held on 10 September in the
                                    DBO bundle 1, except                  as is pipe bursting on             Menlo Park Hotel with 11
                                    Milltown, Barnarusheen and            Caherlistrane.                     schemes represented. Both
      by Paul Connolly and
                                    Caherlistrane.                                      ***                  Ryan Hanley and TSSL
                                                 ***
         Joe Gallagher
                                                                          Advance works contract no.         (DBO Contractor) provided
Leitrim                             Advance works contract no.            3 – installation of water con-     reports on progress to date.
Sliabh an Iarann GWS is to
be     included   in    the
Roscommon DBO bundle.
This is the amalgamation of
three GWS – Aughnasheelin
GWS, Miskaun GWS and
Mullagharve GWS.

Galway
Take-over-certificates have
been issued for all of the treat-
ment plants in DBO bundle 1,
with the exception of New Inn
GWS, which is pending reso-
lution of a number of source
issues. However, the plant has
been producing treated water
since February.                     The view from Inis Meáin GWS reservoir. Inis Meáin is part of the Galway DBO bundle 1 contract.

                                                                     19
Rural Water News                                                                                                            Autumn 2007

The meeting was chaired by        Mayo                                   were operational and it had       Carra (incorporating Bally-
Daniel        Flaherty      of    Six DBO plants in bundle 1             been anticipated that the fol-    glass/Carnacon, Banogues/
Cloonluane GWS. The next          are up and running, while the          lowing additional plants          Ballintubber & Rathnacreeva).
LMC meeting is scheduled          existing treatment plant at            would be commissioned             As of the end of September,
for 5 December.                   Belderrig is also being run by         before the end of August –        however, only the Lough
              ***                 Earthtech (Ire.) Ltd. (ETIL).          Lough       Mask/Creevagh,        Carra treatment plant was
The official opening of DBO
                                  In our last report, five plants        Kilmovee/Urlaur and Lough         fully operational.
1 schemes will take place
soon. Ceremonies will be held
at Ardrahan, Caherlistrane
and Rinn-Killeeneen.
              ***
Ryan Hanley Consulting
Engineers are currently
assessing the tender docu-
ments returned in early
September for DBO bundle 2.
Rural Water News under-
stands that schemes in the
bundle will be contacted in
the coming weeks.
              ***
Kiltiernan GWS held its first
committee meeting on 26
July. This is one of several
Galway schemes formed as a
result of recent amalgama-
tions. Officers were elected at
a subsequent meeting on 13
August.                           Belderrig GWS water treatment plant, is being run as part of the first Mayo DBO bundle.

                                                                    20
Rural Water News                                                                                                                    Autumn 2007

              ***                              ***
Fahy/Drummindoo plant was         Advance works contract 2
to be operational by late         (inter-connecting pipework
December, but a site meeting      for amalgamating schemes in
on Thursday, 27 September         DBO bundle 2) was awarded
was told that March 2008 is       to Glenkill Civil Engineering
the likely completion date.       Ltd. Work on this contract is
              ***                 progressing well and the esti-
Ballycroy plant is supplying      mated completion date is
media filtered water into the     May 2008.
network. There is, however,       Schemes benefitting from
a continuing serious problem      interconnecting under this
of UFW on the network and         contract              include
the plant cannot be fully         Cuilmore/Burrishoole,
commissioned until this has       Bofeenaun/Rathkell/Derry-
been addressed. A contract        hillagh/ Lahardan, Cloonmore/            Members of three County Donegal schemes – Bunn GWS, Meenabool
                                                                           GWS and Townawully GWS met in July to share information and dis-
for the replacement of 5km        Rooskey, Fahy/Kilmaclasser/              cuss issues of mutual interest. The meeting was held in Townawully and
of critical mains has been        Drummindoo,           Callow/            included an inspection tour of ongoing upgrade works.
approved, with work com-          Meelick and Sraheens.                    Brian MacDonald of the NFGWS briefed the schemes on the implications

                                            Ulster
mencing immediately.                      Continued on page 27             of the new Drinking Water Regulations and the Water Services Act.
              ***                                                          being carried out on a number       who passed away recently.

                                            Region
In light of the long delay in                                              of plants at the moment.                         ***
completing the treatment                                                   Problems with algae arose on        The West Cavan LMC met on
plant at Glencorrib (due to a                                              some of the lake sources, par-      18 July. It was reported that
                                           by Jean Gibson
local legal dispute), the com-                                             ticularly in August. Although       carbon has been installed in
mittee of Funshinagh/Cross        Cavan                                    the algae may be naturally          the Doobally & Gowlan
GWS is planning to reverse        A Cavan County Federation                occurring, schemes were             plants and that the Glangevlin
an earlier decision to amalga-    meeting was held on 13                   encouraged to protect their         plant has been switched on.
mate with the Glencorrib          August. A presentation was               sources and to monitor activ-                    ***
scheme and to take water          given by Colm Brady, who                 ity around them. Progress on        The South West Cavan LMC
from the proposed plant.          went through the details of              the take-over of the reservoirs     meeting was held on 4
Members of Funshinagh/            the new Drinking Water                   has been slow, but the consult-     September. All plants have
Cross GWS will be asked to        Regulations and the Water                ing engineers are working to        been operating satisfactorily.
back their committee’s view       Services Act. Schemes were               get these works completed.                       ***
that it would be best to pur-     also given information on the                          ***                   Lavagh/Ballyheelan GWS
sue an independent upgrade.       NFGWS Quality Assurance                  Sympathy is extended to the         have      appointed      Seán
Funshinagh/Cross already          Scheme. This will be rolled              family & friends of Kathleen        Reynolds as manager. We
has disinfection and UV           out shortly.                             Brady, former, longstanding         wish Seán every success in his
treatment in place.                             ***                        Secretary of the Kill GWS           new position.
              ***                 Upgrading works contracts
The tendering process for the     are due to commence shortly
second Mayo DBO bundle is         on      Corlough, Annagh,
now completed and (as pre-        Dhuish and Clifferna.
dicted in our last issue) the                   ***
contract has been awarded to      Contracts for Phase 6 works
Treatment Systems Services        of the Annagh GWS were
Ltd (TSSL).                       signed on 3 September. This
An information evening for        will see network improve-
the schemes involved will be      ments, installation of bulk
held on Thursday, 18 October,     meters on old pipework,
in the Regional Training          installation of chlorine units at
Centre, Castlebar at 8pm.         reservoirs and extension of
Ryan Hanley Consultant            the scheme to Roskeeragh,
Engineers, Mayo County            Belturbet.
Council and the National                        ***
Federation of Group Water         East Cavan LMC met on 4
Schemes will have represen-       September. Update reports
tatives at the meeting.           was given by Niall McCaffrey
The estimated overall com-        (T. J. O’Connor & Associates)
                                                                           Seán Reynolds (left) recently appointed manager of Lavagh-Ballyheelan
pletion date for this bundle is   and Matt Kelly (Veolia                   GWS, with scheme caretaker, Eddie Heslin. Both men attended the dis-
March 2009.                       Water). Process changes are              tribution network training in Dundalk on 28 September.

                                                                      21
Cavan schemes get
Rural Water News                                                                                                             Autumn 2007

                                                                       newspapers required both           Speaking after the meeting,

    thumbs-up as
                                                                       ‘retraction and clarification’.    Michael Mulvey said:
                                                                                 Annoyance                ‘We greatly appreciate the
                                                                       The meeting in the council         effort made by the county

   County Manager
                                                                       offices was chaired by             manager and his senior offi-
                                                                       Michael      Mulvey,       who     cials to meet with us at such
                                                                       explained that there was           short notice to address this

    clears the air
                                                                       widespread annoyance at            issue. The remarks of the
                                                                       what had appeared in the           county manager were warmly
                                                                       local press. He added:             received by the GWS activists
                                                                         ‘The fact that these com-        present and were welcomed
                                                                       ments were attributed to the       unanimously.
The Chairperson of Cavan         emergency meeting on                  county council could only                      Activists
Federation of Group Water        Monday 23 July.                       have one result: the under-        Thanking the GWS activists
Schemes, Michael Mulvey,           This followed local media           mining of public confidence in     from across the county ‘who
has welcomed an assurance        reports that schemes might be         the county’s group schemes.        took time out from their own
from County Manager, Jack        held legally liable. These              ‘This was all the more dis-      busy work lives to be pres-
Keyes, that he has ‘total        quoted a Council source.              appointing as the relationship     ent’, Mr Mulvey continued.
                                   Reassuring those present            between the GWS sector and         ‘This meeting was designed
admiration and support’ for
                                 that he has ‘absolutely and           Cavan County Council had           to clear the air and to put the
the GWS sector and that
                                 utterly no lack of confidence’        always been one of partner-        message out to rural con-
there is no question of any
                                 in the capacity of group              ship and co-operation.             sumers in Cavan that they can
legal action being taken                                                        Unacceptable              have full confidence in their
                                 schemes to conduct their
against group schemes in                                               Representatives       of    the    group water scheme service.’
                                 businesses, Mr Keyes said
the wake of the recent phenol    that he fully accepted the            schemes said that the reported       An agreed clarification pub-
contamination incident.          ‘need for action’ in the wake         media comments were totally        lished in the local papers,
  Mr Keyes was addressing        of any reports that might sug-        unacceptable, adding that          stated unequivocally that the
representatives from schemes     gest otherwise.                       individual consumers had           schemes affected by the phe-
across the county, as well as      He added that the reported          contacted them to voice their      nol crisis had done everything
NFGWS personnel, at an           comments in two Cavan                 concerns.                          legally required of them.
Monaghan                         Group Water Scheme is now             time step tests conducted in       dealt in good faith with its
Magheracloone GWS has            completed, as is the contract         one district metered area          normal supplier and there
warned its members about         to install bulk meters and            revealed numerous leaks that       was no question of it taking
the companies that are selling   valves on Drumgole GWS.               have now been fixed.               risks with consumer health.
unnecessary and expensive                    ***                       As a result, water demand was      Both they and their supplier
water treatment systems to       Tenders for the replacement           reduced by about 350 m3 from       had been ‘caught and misled’
their consumers through          of         meters         on          2,100 m3 per day to 1,750 m3.      and the documentary evi-
pressure sales techniques.       Corduff/Corracharra GWS                             ***                  dence confirms this.
The scheme used its recent       were opened on 3 July.                There was a lively meeting of      Veolia had operated on a
AGM and the ‘local news’                                               the Liaison Monitoring             basis of trust with their sup-
                                               ***
section of the print media to    Emyvale village in the north          Committee on 18 July as            pliers. This would no longer
hammer home the message          of the county will connect to         schemes sought reassurance         be the case. Controls had
that these companies are         the     Glaslough/Tyholland           regarding the phenol crisis that   been put in place to ensure
operating a scam.                GWS supply this month. This           hit East Cavan DBO bundle.         traceability right back to the
             ***                 is the second instance that a         Three points, in particular,       production phase. This meant
Other areas in the county –      group water scheme in                 were put to Richard Dujardin:      that there could be no reoc-
most notably Aughnashalvey       Monaghan will provide water           1. media allegations suggest-      curance of the East Cavan
– have been targetted lately                                              ing that Veolia had endan-      incident in any Veolia-man-
                                 to a public scheme.
by these companies. Over                                                  gered human health by           aged plant.
€2,000 is being spent on         Last year Drum village was
                                 connected to the Drumgole                purchasing contaminated         Mr Dujardin accepted that the
systems, with an additional
                                 water supply.                            chemicals ‘on the cheap’;       incident had damaged con-
maintenance contract costing
€150 annually.                                 ***                     2. fear that a similar situation   sumer confidence in the
             ***                 A new publicly-sourced GWS               might arise in relation to      region.
Truagh Group Water Scheme        has been constructed at                  chemicals used in the           He pledged that Veolia would
is currently upgrading valves    Tattyreagh North, near                   Monaghan plants;                play its part in rebuilding con-
and chambers along its mains     Annyalla.                             3. the knock-on effect that        fidence and concluded by
network.                                       ***                        these reports were having       wishing a local man, Mark
             ***                 Killanny GWS is continuing               consumer confidence.            Rooney, well in his new role
The contract to replace meters   its attempts to reduce con-           Responding, Mr Dujardin,           as regional manager for the
and valves on Tydavnet           sumption and leakage. Night           explained that the company         company.

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