Water restored to Uisce Éireann customers in Clonmel area but Boil Water Notice remains

Uisce Éireann crews have restored water supply to customers in the Clonmel area impacted by an unplanned interruption following operational issues at the Glenary Water Treatment Plant during Storm Amy. 

The utility said it acknowledged the impact of the water outage locally and apologised to customers for the supply disruption.  

It pointed out that although water supply has returned, the volume of treated water stored in the reservoir remains critically low and there may be some areas still experiencing low pressure.

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"We are appealing to our customers fed from the Glenary Water Treatment Plant to conserve water as it returns to ensure it can be maintained for essential purposes. It will take some time for reservoir levels which were depleted to fully recover."  

Uisce Éireann said the Boil Water Notice in place since the 26 September, to protect the public health of customers supplied by the Glenary Water Treatment Plant remains in place. It was put in place following operational issues at the plant.  

"Since then, there have been a series of different challenges at the water treatment plant, impacting routine operations, compounded by changing raw water quality which also caused issues with the plant keeping up with required production.

"Collectively all these issues depleted storage in the local reservoir which led to the outage impacting parts of Clonmel; all customers are now fed from the treated water storage reservoir and not directly from the plant."

The utility noted that a major capital project to upgrade the water treatment plant at Glenary is well underway. But it pointed out that ensuring the normal day to day operations of a water treatment plant while delivering an upgrade can be complex.  

"Works now underway include the full refurbishment of all three filters on site. Temporary arrangements are in place to ensure the engineering team delivering the critical upgrade can take each filter out of service on a sequential basis. This is adding to the challenges and consistent production at the plant for the local operations team.

"However, it is necessary to deliver the critical upgrade which is planned for completion in early Spring," Uisce Éireann's statement continued.   

Uisce Éireann’s Pierce Faherty acknowledged the ongoing impact of the Boil Water Notice as well as the recent disruption caused by the outage in parts of Clonmel.  
  
 “Maintaining normal operations at the aging water treatment plant during complex and critical upgrades is challenging. Intermittent deterioration in raw water quality due to heavy rainfall, along with regular operational issues, have affected consistent water production and prevented us from lifting the Boil Water Notice.” 

“Uisce Éireann would like to apologise to all customers who have experienced an interruption to their supply. 

“We would also like to reaffirm our commitment to lifting the Boil Water Notice in place as soon as it is safe to do so. We thank the local community for their patience as we work to do this. 

“We are committed to the delivery of the critical upgrade underway at the Glenary Water Treatment Plant to ensure that operational issues being experienced locally become a thing of the past for the local community”.

Vulnerable customers, who have registered with Uisce Éireann, receive direct communications from the utility for planned and unplanned outages lasting more than four hours. To register as a vulnerable customer or as an alternative contact, visit Uisce Éireann's Vulnerable Customers page.  

Uisce Éireann reiterated that it's committed to keeping customers informed across multiple platforms 24/7 and we encourage customers to engage with us through our website, X channels @IWCare and @IrishWater and through our customer care helpline which is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278.  

Uisce Éireann has a free text service, providing real-time updates for local issues. Customers can sign up with their Eircode and mobile number at the utility's Text Updates page. 

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