Sunday, September 04, 2022

Hard water issues, but Irish Water refuses to use conditioning plant

€3.5m system not being used.

With reports of hard water problems with domestic appliances in the Kilcullen area becoming apparent, Irish Water is refusing to use the conditioning unit installed at the Barrow extraction plant in 2013 at a cost of €3.5 million, writes Brian Byrne. This is despite the water supply company agreeing last November to 're-examine' their decision to discontinue its use in 2019.
The unit was installed by Kildare County Council and is designed to remove lime from the Barrow water before it is put into the public supply. This has become an issue in this area over the last few years as Irish Water increased the amount of Barrow water, harder than the former Poulaphuca supply, into the water systems here. The Diary understands that the mid-Kildare supply is now 100pc Barrow water, the softer Poulaphuca supply having been diverted to Dublin. 
In the most recent reply to Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer, who has been working on this issue over the last several years with her colleague Cllr Evie Sammon of the Naas MD, the company re-iterated a previous reason for not using the conditioner to mitigate hardness.
"Irish Water does not chemically treat water to remove these mineral salts as they are naturally occurring and fully consistent with safe drinking water," they say in the correspondence. "Hard water contains high levels of natural minerals absorbed from rock and soil and is not harmful to health." The company also claims it had 'very few customer queries relating to hard water in areas supplied by Srowland Water Treatment Plant' during the non-operation periods.
This weekend, Kilcullen resident Orla O'Neill said she'd had to have a repair man out to deal with her washing machine. "He said part of the problem is the very hard water in Kilcullen and that he’s very busy around here," she posted on the Kilcullen Town Facebook page.
Dave Byrne of Silliot Hill, Kilcullen, has been monitoring the hardness of his mains water supply for some considerable time, and over recent weeks has seen a 'spike' in the hardness from 6.8 to 8.6 in terms of pH levels.
Despite intervention from local representatives on several occasions, which even included a meeting with An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, Irish Water has adamantly refused to engage on the issue of potential damage to domestic appliances because the conditioning system is not used, referring every time only to the lime levels not being injurious to human health.
The Diary's commentary on the affair can be followed in the stories linked below. 


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