Spancilhill-Clooney water gets all clear

RESIDENTS and businesses on the Spancilhill-Clooney Group Water Scheme can return to regular consumption of their water supply as a month-long boil notice comes to an end.

 

A boil notice was placed on the Spancilhill-Clooney GWS on October 31 after high coliform numbers were detected during routine samples tests on the scheme.

“A programme of further testing during the currency of the notice showed that premises served directly off the mains supplying water from Ennis to the GWS showed no coliforms and that the problem was confined to a small number of houses at the Clooney end of the scheme which were supplied from a small local reservoir. This suggested the likelihood of contamination in this reservoir,” Sean Ward senior engineer water services section of Clare County Council said.

The choices then were (a) to clean out and scour the reservoir and seal it against any leakage of water from the outside, or (b) to take the reservoir out of use by altering existing pumps to act as booster pumps, so as to ensure that the houses in Clooney would get a satisfactory supply directly off the main coming from Ennis. Initially the reservoir was cleaned out but as this did not resolve the problem fully the group decided on option (b).

With assistance from Clare County Council, changes to the pumps were made on November 29. The mains were thoroughly scoured over the next few days to eliminate any residue of material that might have come into them from the reservoir and after getting three days of clear results on December 3, 4 and 5, the boil notice was removed on December 6 on the advice of the HSE.
Gearóid Mannion of the GWS committee explained that not everyone on the scheme was directly affected as the problem was related specifically to the reservoir at Clooney.

Due to a text system operated by the GWS committee, everyone on the scheme was advised of the difficult as a precaution. Having liaised with the council and the HSE, those on the scheme were kept up-to-date.

“It was decided, between us and the council, that the best course of action was to bypass the reservoir and decommission it, so plumbing works were done, so now the reservoir is out of the loop,” he said.

Initially the works were at the members of the group scheme’s expense but they are hoping the council might be able to help with funding should funding be available.
Speaking about funding availability, Mr Ward said, “All group schemes are entitled to an annual subsidy for operation of their networks, paid by the Department of the Environment through Clare County Council and the Spancilhill-Clooney group may include the cost of this job in their 2013 subsidy claim”.

There were no incidents of people getting sick as a result of the water issue and everyone on the scheme can now resume normal use of the water supply for drinking, food preparation and brushing teeth.

Clare County Council and Spancilhill/Clooney GWS acknowledged the patience, co-operation and assistance of the general public during the period of the boil water notice and greatly regrets any inconvenience caused to householders and the business community.