Council considering boil notice texts

MEMBERS of the public may be advised of boil water notices via text  message in the future, Clare County Council revealed this week.
The local authority confirmed to The Clare Champion that it is “currently reviewing the notification protocol with a view to availing of additional media types, such as mobile phone texting”.
The comments were made after the council confirmed a boil water notice issued last week affecting more than 700 people in North Clare remains in place. This is the second boil notice to be issued this year on the Ballyvaughan Water Supply.
“Historically, the basis for Clare County Council issuing boil notices and restrictions on the Ballyvaughan Water Supply has been due to contamination of the supply, which is highly susceptible to pollution,” a spokesperson for the council stated.
According to the council, this susceptibility is due to extreme vulnerability of the source to any pollutant run-off or discharge and a minimal level of treatment facilities to deal with such high level of pollution of the source.
“Due to the extent of the impacted drainage catchment, it has proved difficult to identify the exact geographic locus of the pollutant source when it occurs. However, in the most recent incident, we are satisfied that the pollution relates to agricultural slurry, most likely through spreading,” the spokesperson outlined.
“Clare County Council has recently surveyed over 80 agricultural holdings in the Ballyvaughan and New Quay area in an effort to identify potential problem sites. Furthermore, following the June contamination, we had staff investigate the contamination on the ground but were unable to identify a source,” he continued.
Under EU guidelines, spreading of livestock manure is prohibited from October 15 to January 15 each year.
The council stated the issue relating to water supply in Ballyvaughan “will be resolved once the supply to the area is provided from the regional supply scheme”.