€1.6 million investment underway as part of efforts to address water discolouration issues in Cork City

Uisce Éireann is investing €1.6 million at the Lee Road Treatment Plant to further treat the source water at the intake and the treated water before it leaves the plant. Whilst all the infrastructure at the plant complies with global and national water treatment standards, the additional investment in new treatment processes is part of a series of initiatives by Uisce Éireann to address water discolouration issues in Cork City. 

Uisce Éireann has invested more than €100 million in infrastructure improvements across Cork City in recent years, including the €40 million upgrade of the Lee Road Water Treatment Plant in 2022, which included the construction of a new water treatment plant and water treatment systems; and associated network upgrades including new rising and trunk watermains along with new pumping stations and flood protection works. This investment has significantly modernised and improved the overall water supply infrastructure and delivered a more secure and resilient water supply to homes and businesses across Cork City. Specialists from Uisce Éireann actively monitor the performance of the water treatment plant on an ongoing basis to ensure it is fully in line with water treatment standards. The additional processes identified are enhanced new measures which will further treat the final water before it leaves the new plant.

In addition, the Water Quality taskforce established by Uisce Éireann continues to implement a range of measures to specifically address discolouration including a targeted flushing programme, additional proactive sampling and testing at a number of locations and watermains rehabilitation and replacement works.

Brian O’Leary, Uisce Éireann’s Regional Operations Manager for the Southwest, said: “Good progress has been made to advance two new processes, one to remove manganese and a second to condition the final water. In recent years, we have identified increased instances of the naturally occurring mineral, manganese, in raw water, in a number of water supplies across the country. In Cork we have expediated the installation of the manganese removal step partly in response to an event at the end of August which saw elevated levels of manganese detected in the network. The manganese removal system should be in place by the end of 2024, while the scheduled completion date for the installation of all works is mid 2025.

This is in addition to our ongoing measures to reduce instances of discolouration for homes and businesses across Cork City. As part of this effort, targeted flushing works are now taking place in Ballyvolane and we have increased sampling in 2024 including testing at customers’ taps, on the network and operational sampling at the water treatment plant. Mains rehabilitation works are also underway in Cork City, with an investment of approximately €500 million required, across several decades, to replace the entire cast iron mains network, some of which dates back to the late 1800s.”

Public health remains our top priority and water is safe to drink once it is running clear. We continue to encourage customers to contact us directly in the event of discolouration. The customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278. Each report is actioned, giving us a better understanding of any ongoing issues and allows us to prioritise the worst impacted areas.

We recognise that instances of discolouration are still arising in areas of Cork City and want to assure householders and businesses that our dedicated taskforce is undertaking all possible measures to minimise discolouration and address the underlying issues across the city. As part of Uisce Éireann's continuing commitment to keep the community informed on work underway to address water quality issues in Cork City, we met with elected representatives in Cork City recently to update them and will continue to keep elected representatives and all stakeholders updated as work progresses.

Uisce Éireann has launched a free text service, providing real-time updates on local supply issues. Customers can sign up with their Eircode and mobile number on our Water Updates page.