Water boil notice issued in flood region

Limerick County Council has issued a public drinking water notice for those in the recently flooded Newcastle West region.

The boil notice has been issued for the following areas:

Newcastle West, Coolcappagh and Rathcahill, as well as the Ballyine, Dually, Reens Kilscannell, Old Mill Road, Killoughteen and Killeline Group Water Supply Schemes.

Boil notice conditions:
Water for drinking purposes, brushing teeth and food preparation should be
boiled. Boil the water to ensure a rolling vigorous boil and then allow it
to cool. Cover it and store it in a fridge or cold place. Water from the
hot tap is not safe to drink. Domestic filters will not guarantee that water
is safe to drink.’

Discard ice cubes in fridges and freezers. Use water that has been prepared
for drinking (i.e. that is boiled) for preparing foods that will not be
cooked, e.g. for washing salads. It is safe to drink commercial bottled
mineral water’, he explained.

Baby feeds should be prepared with water that has been brought to the boil
once and cooled. Do not use water that has been reboiled several times. If
tap water is unavailable, use bottled water that has been brought to the
boil and cooled. Avoid using water that is fizzy, unless boiling has removed
all the fizziness. Check the label: water in bottles labelled “natural
mineral water” is not required to meet all the standards of tap waters.

Do not use natural mineral water with concentrations greater than the
following for infant feeding: sodium –200mg/l; Nitrate –50mg/l;
Nitrite –0.5mg/l; Sulphate –250mg/l.

Water may be used for flushing of toilets and for personal hygiene and
bathing. Water may also be used for flushing of internal house plumbing.

Donal Brennan, A/Director of Services Transportation & Water Services, Limerick County Council told the media today,

“Due to recent flooding, the production of water at the Newcastle West Water Treatment Plant has been temporarily ceased. Limerick County Council is currently endeavouring to re-commence production at the plant. In the interim, we would ask members of the public in the affected areas to conserve water usage.The Council wishes to thank the public for their support to date. However, in the meantime the public are asked to conserve water in the areas supplied by the Newcastle West Water Treatment Plant. A further update will be issued to the public and media later this evening.

As the Water Services Authority for County Limerick, we wish toadvise members of the public that water being supplied from now untilfurther notice should not be used for human consumption except under anumber of conditions and for certain purposes.”

The alert likely to stay in effect until at least Tuesday 5th of August while operations return to normal at the affected water treatment plant.

Further information and advice is available from the following phone
numbers:(061) 496326 (9.30am – 4.30pm Monday - Friday) or (061) 419226
(after hours).