Council seeks meeting with Irish Water over Kingscourt issue

A more permanent solution to lime causing hardness in the Kingscourt water supply would require a change to national guidelines.

It was suggested at the December meeting of Cavan County Council that current levels “comply” with the reading parameters as set out.

Director of Services Paddy Connaughton informed councillors that the council had engaged with Irish Water previously on the matter.

Nevertheless, it was agreed that the authority would seek a further meeting after Fianna Fail’s Clifford Kelly demanded a fix be found urgently.

In 2018 a new water treatment plant in Kingscourt was constructed to improve the quality of water for some 3,200 customers in the area. Veolia won the 27-month ‘Design and Build’ contract, which included a one-year Operations Phase. Irish Water completed the upgrade, which included a new reservoir for the northeast county town.

Prior to that Cllr Kelly highlighted how the lime problem was affecting heating systems and appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines in Kingscourt. He said that the problem resulted in people having to foot the cost of replacing damaged goods. He reiterated that same point at the December meeting, warning that families are beginning to “suffer in a serious way”, and calling for a meeting with Irish Water officials.

Paddy McDonald (SF) seconded the motion calling for a meeting with Irish Water with Aiden Fitzpatrick (FF) speaking in support. Brendan Fay (Ind) asked that the meeting take into account problems with water supply across the county.

Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly informed the meeting she was the “only councillor” to log into a virtual meeting recently held with Irish Water officials. “They had a local engineer then. I got all my questions answered.”

It was agreed that a meeting regarding the issues affecting Kingscourt would be raised as a “separate” matter with Irish Water given current and ongoing concerns.