The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
Despite reassurances from Uisce Éireann in recent days that the water supply in North Clare is safe to drink, many hundreds of people are refusing to drink the tap water in the area, complaining of issues with taste and a strong odour. Just outside of Ennistymon, Lickeen Lake supplies the Ballymacravan Water Treatment System which provides drinking water to more than 14,000 people in the North Clare area. In early August of this year, a large algae bloom was recorded on the lake. The emergence of this bloom of blue and green algae coincided with a flood of complaints from the people of North Clare about the taste and smell of their drinking water. While algae blooms occur naturally, they are often associated with instances of pollution, especially when excessive nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus enter a waterway. This can happen when chemical fertiliser or animal slurry is washed from farmland into nearby waterways. North Clare resident and hydrology …
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