Do not drink water restriction in Ballyhaise
Irish Water and Cavan County Council has issued a 'Do Not Drink' water restriction on the Ballyhaise public water supply, effective immediately, on the advice of the HSE.
This drinking water restriction has been put in place to protect public health following a nitrite exceedance in the water supply. The issue was detected following water sampling, which showed elevated nitrite levels in the supply. Monitoring and testing will continue to take place and a further update will be issued shortly.
Irish Water expects that the issue will be resolved in the coming days but, in the meantime, customers must not ingest the water until further notice.
Tankered water will be available on the Cavan Road at St Mary’s R.C. Church and at The Square in Ballyhaise Village.
A spokesperson for Irish Water issued the following statement:
'Irish Water make every effort to ensure that the alternative drinking water supply provided, including the tanker/bowser, and dispensing tap, are adequately disinfected.
However, as it is not practical to provide sterilised containers for the public to transport drinking water from the tanker to their homes, we cannot guarantee that any containers used by the public do not negatively impact or contaminate the drinking water.
'Therefore, as a precautionary measure, it is recommended that any members of the public who obtain water from a tanker or bowser boil the water before use.
Leaflets advising customers of the 'Do Not Drink' notice will be hand delivered to properties in the impacted area by Cavan County Council staff.
Irish Water is working with Cavan County Council and the HSE to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Our priority at this time is to safeguard the public drinking water supply and public health.
'Irish Water and Cavan County Council apologise for the inconvenience caused by this restriction and thank customers for their patience while both organisations liaise with the HSE to remove the notice as quickly as possible.'
Advice
The HSE has issued the following advice:
• Use bottled water for drinking and cooking,
• Limit water usage to bathing and showering only. Water should not be ingested.
• Do not boil the water to get rid of nitrites – this will actually increase the concentration of chemicals in the water.
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,
• making up infant formula for bottled fed infants
• In particular, pregnant women should not drink this water
An alternative source of water should be used.
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.
All prepared drinks, foods, and baby foods which contain water from the network should be discarded.
For more information and additional advice, please call Irish Water’s 24-hour customer care helpline on 1850 278 278 or log onto www.water.ie