Leaks caused loss of 15,000 litres of water an hour in one area of Tipperary

The public water supply system in Clonmel “remains challenging on a daily basis,” even if the supply has improved over the last number of months.

That’s according to Colin Cunningham, Operations Lead for Uisce Éireann in Tipperary, who was speaking in an interview with The Nationalist, following a number of difficulties that have been encountered with Clonmel’s water supply in the recent past.

The water treatment plants for the town are located at Glenary, a surface water source built in the 1970s; Poulavanogue, another surface water source built in the 1950s; and the more recently-constructed Monroe plant, where the source of the water is from boreholes, with the water filtered naturally.

“It’s not the optimum situation in terms of water supply at the moment; we require robust plants that can handle adverse weather conditions,” he stated.

“Poulavanogue is vulnerable during adverse weather or heavy rainfall, which means we have to switch over some areas to the Glenary Water Treatment Plant.

“This puts Glenary under further pressure and reduces our storage capacity and has the potential to impact a greater population during supply disruptions”.

When it was put to him that the “hard water” supplied from Monroe has caused difficulties for residents on the northern side of the town, with household appliances having to be replaced on a regular basis, he said that hard water “is not something we treat for. The highest priority is the supply of safe, secure drinking water supplies and a robust, resilient supply”.

Mr Cunningham said that in Clonmel weather events, such as torrential downpours that followed a dry spell, caused the quality of raw water to deteriorate because dissolved matter such as clay, stones and vegetation was washed into rivers. When the rivers were dirtier they could be more difficult to treat.

“Treating mountain streams such as Glenary and Poulavanogue can be challenging,” he said.

Sometimes, an operational issue at a treatment plant means that the plant has to be shut down and a boil water notice issued.
He said that an older plant such as Poulavanogue struggles to cope with dirty water and very heavy rainfall. When that happens the plant will automatically shut down because public health is the priority.

To try and maintain supply in such cases, areas supplied by Poulavanogue are switched over to the Glenary supply, which in turn puts Glenary under pressure.

Mr Cunningham said that the Glenary plant is receiving “ a lot of hands-on time”. The automation of the Glenary plant, which needs to be improved, is very well advanced, as part of the upgrade of a number of treatment plants in Tipperary.

Mr Cunningham said that a contractor had been appointed and a detailed design is well underway for “the significant upgrade plans” for Glenary, which Uisce Éireann hopes will commence next year.

The water utility company says that replacing water mains will over time enhance water quality, but it acknowledges the wider impact of supply issues on businesses and residents in Clonmel.

A cross-functional working group has also been established to identify and prioritise key solutions, and ensure that these are delivered as quickly as possible.

“Uisce Éireann has dedicated considerable efforts to address the challenges identified through operational interventions and capital upgrades,” the company says.

“In the last six months, Uisce Éireann has carried out several remedial and improvement works at Glenary Water Treatment Plant and undertaken a number of operational improvements at Poulavanogue Water Treatment Plant. As a result of these interventions and the ongoing work, the number of unplanned interruptions and water quality issues in the Clonmel area has reduced considerably and local customers are benefiting from a more secure, resilient supply. As further works are complete, the risk of outages and Boil Water Notices will decrease”.

When it was put to him that there were considerable difficulties with and interruptions to the supply in elevated areas of the town over St Brigid’s Day and Bank Holiday weekend, and the days that followed, Mr Cunningham acknowledged that the company is struggling with high leakage in Clonmel at present.

“When that happens it can lead to a drop in pressure and this is particularly felt in some elevated areas,” he said.

As an example of such leakage, he said that at one stage a significant amount of water - 15,000 litres an hour - was being lost in the Elm Park area. Most of this was happening on people’s property. In such cases Uisce Éireann staff called to people’s homes and as part of company policy offer to fix the first leak for free.

Mr Cunningham said that the mains replacement programme and backyard service replacement works also target high leakage areas.

“Backyard water service connections are usually shared, running through several neighbouring properties, making it difficult to detect and repair leaks.

"That is why the backyard service replacement programme provides the solution to upgrading the network and largely eliminating the problems experienced such as frequent bursts and low water pressure for these communities. In addition, improving the water quality is another bonus”.