Breaking: Fethard Do Not Drink Notice will remain in effect 'for a number of weeks'

Irish Water and Tipperary County Council are working to return a supply of mains water to the majority of customers on the Fethard Regional Water Supply for sanitary use only over the coming days. The mains water will be supplied from alternative sources, other than the River Anner.

It is important to note that this water will not be safe for human consumption. The Do Not Drink Notice, which was issued on Monday, remains in place until further notice. Boiling the water will not be sufficient to make it suitable for consumption. (Please see details below)

It is expected that this notice will remain in effect for a number of weeks as alternative sources are maximised and the issues causing this incident are addressed.

The Do Not Drink Notice was issued in order to safeguard public health following a kerosene spill from a third party source into the River Anner, approximately 10km upstream of the intake to the water treatment plant.

Customers may notice discolouration or odour in the water as the network refills. Some customers may also have internal airlocks on their properties. For advice on dealing with airlocks please see the Irish Water website, https://www.water.ie/support/ questions-and-answers/how-to- check-for-and-clea/.

It is likely that the supply will return intermittently over the coming days and there may be ongoing disruptions to the supply as we work to manage the network. For that reason, we are asking customers in the area to conserve water where possible by turning off taps when not in use, taking showers instead of baths and checking for leaks. Irish Water is especially appealing to anyone with an outside tap to ensure that it is securely turned off.

There may be some areas where it will not be possible to restore mains water for several days and, in these areas, we will work with the community to maintain sufficient alternative water stations.

Water stations are currently available throughout the affected area and these will continue until the Do Not Drink Notice is lifted. This alternative water should be boiled before normal use for drinking and food preparation. In some locations, tankers have also been used to replenish water tanks in schools and other key locations for sanitary use. Irish Water has also been in contact with vulnerable customers in the area and provided them with supplies of bottled water. Details of the locations of tankers will be available on the Service and Supply Section of the Irish Water website at www.water.ie/water-supply/ supply-and-service-update/

Customers who have any health concerns should contact their GP in the first instance. Farmers who are concerned that livestock may have consumed contaminated water are advised to contact their local vet for advice, or their local Department of Agriculture contact. 

Irish Water and Tipperary County Council fully acknowledge the inconvenience caused as a result of this incident and wish to assure customers that we are making every effort to restore supply for sanitation as quickly as possible, together with the full resolution of the impact of this third party fuel spillage on the water treatment plant and network.

Should customers have any concerns or queries, they should contact Irish Water’s 24/7 customer care line at 1850 278 278.

Please Note: 

This water should not be used for

drinking,
drinks made with water,
food preparation, washing or cooking of food,
brushing of teeth, or
making of ice. 
In particular, pregnant women should not drink this water.

This water should not be used for making up infant formula for bottled fed infants.  An alternative source of water should be used. Bottled water can also be used to make up infant formula. All bottled water, with the exception of natural mineral water, is regulated to the same standard as drinking water. It is best not to use bottled water labelled as ‘Natural Mineral Water’ as it can have high levels of sodium (salt) and other minerals, although it rarely does. ‘Natural Mineral Water’ can be used if no other water is available, for as short a time as possible, as it is important to keep babies hydrated. If bottled water is used to make up infant formula it should be boiled once (rolling boil for 1 minute), and cooled in the normal way.

The water can be used for personal hygiene, bathing, flushing toilets, laundry and washing of utensils, however, if you are experiencing skin irritation you may wish to avoid using water for showering or bathing or washing clothes.

Domestic water filters will not render water safe to drink.

Caution should be taken when bathing children to ensure that they do not swallow the bathing water.

Discard ice cubes in fridges and freezers and filtered water in fridges.

Please note that boiling the water will not be sufficient to make it suitable to drink.

Areas affected include Fethard, Killenaule, Gortnahoe, Ballysloe, Ballynonty, Moyglass, Mullinahone, Drangan, Glengoole, Cloneen, Ballinure, Killusty and surrounding areas.

Updated Tanker locations March 7th

Ballinure Graveyard Ballinure

Ballinure National School Ballinure

Ballynonty Perries Ballynonty

Ballynonty Mill Rd Estate Ballynonty

Ballynonty Bord na Mona Road Ballynonty

Ballysloe National School Ballysloe

Ballysloe Bottle Bank Ballysloe

Cloneen Hall Cloneen

Cloneen Drangan Rd Estate Cloneen

Drangan National School Drangan

Drangan hair Salon Drangan

Drangan Housing Estate Drangan

Drangan Village Drangan

Fethard - Ribworld Fethard

Fethard - Old Dance Hall Fethard

Glengoole Church Glengoole

Glengoole Housing Est Glengoole

MFRC Glengoole Glengoole

Gortnahoe National School Gortnahoe

Gortnahoe St Patricks Gate Gortnahoe

Gortnahoe Hall Gortnahoe

Killenaule National School Killenaule

Killenaule Castle Quarter Est Killenaule

Killenaule Cashel Road Est Killenaule

Henry Laffen Hgts, Killenaule Killenaule

Kilusty Nation School Kilusty

Kilusty Village Kilusty

Kilvenham National School Kilvenham

Moyglass National School Moyglass

Moyglass Church Estate Moyglass

Mullinahone School Mullinahone

Mullinahone, Cois na An Mullinahone

Mullinahone, Blackthorn Walk Mullinahone

Mullinahone, Asses Cross Mullinahone

Poulacapple National School Poulacapple

Poulacapple Cross Poulacapple