{"id":71630,"date":"2025-09-18T15:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T15:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/71630\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T15:00:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T15:00:12","slug":"hse-slams-uisce-eireanns-response-to-water-issues-in-cork-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/71630\/","title":{"rendered":"HSE slams Uisce \u00c9ireann&#8217;s response to water issues in Cork city\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"contextmenu internal_Body1st\">The HSE has castigated Uisce \u00c9ireann for not informing consumers that drinking water in Cork city contained high levels of manganese, on one occasion almost four times the maximum allowed under EU legislation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Correspondence released to Thomas Gould, Sinn F\u00e9in TD for Cork North Central, shows the HSE expressed serious concern at high levels of exposure to manganese in drinking water on the northside and parts of the southside, and emphasised that if such exposure was ongoing, its immediate recommendation was a \u2018Do Not Consume notice\u2019 for the affected area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Manganese is a naturally occurring mineral which is essential in small doses, but which can be extremely harmful at high levels, possibly affecting brain development in infants and children, and it can also cause symptoms similar to Parkinson\u2019s disease in adults.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The EU Drinking Water (2023) Regulations allow a maximum of 50 microgrammes per litre (\u00b5g\/L), but on March 3, manganese levels of 193\u00b5g\/L were recorded in a sample taken at Richmond Terrace, off Gardiner\u2019s Hill, from a water supply potentially affecting 86,738 people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Water quality has been a major issue in Cork city since the summer of 2022, when Irish Water opened its \u20ac40m Lee Rd water treatment plant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">In late 2022, Irish Water (now Uisce \u00c9ireann) told  The Echo that an adjustment of chemicals used in water preparation at the Lee Rd plant had caused rusty sediment to be stripped from the inside of the city\u2019s ageing cast-iron water mains, resulting in discoloured water in homes across Cork city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The correspondence released to Mr Gould under freedom of information legislation shows that the HSE expressed serious concern at the lack of communication to the public regarding manganese exceedances from Uisce \u00c9ireann.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">LETTER<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">A letter from the HSE to Brian McCarthy, Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s regional operations manager, dated February 14, said that in a meeting the previous day, the water utility had clarified that it had not relayed to the public the HSE\u2019s health advice on manganese.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cThe HSE had understood otherwise prior to yesterday\u2019s meeting \u2026 that consumers had got this advice,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u00a0\u201cThe HSE emphasises that consumers on affected parts of the supply \u2014 when manganese levels exceeding the regulatory limit have been reported by U\u00c9 [Uisce \u00c9ireann] to the HSE \u2014 need to be given this advice by U\u00c9,\u201d the letter stated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">While EU legislation allows a maximum manganese level of 50\u00b5g\/L, the World Health Organization suggests a maximum of 80\u00b5g\/L. The HSE said it had repeatedly sought reassurance from Uisce \u00c9ireann that consumers in affected areas were not being exposed to drinking water with manganese levels above 80\u00b5g\/L on a continuing basis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201c[We] are unsure if we can be reassured by U\u00c9 that consumers in affected areas are not being exposed to drinking water with manganese levels above 80\u00b5g\/l on an ongoing basis,\u201d the HSE stated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Above the levels of 50\u00b5g\/L, water can appear discoloured and blackish, giving a metallic taste to the water and staining laundry, but the HSE sounded a note of caution on Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s advice that consumers should not drink discoloured water and its claims that clear water was safe to consume from a manganese perspective.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cHowever, U\u00c9 must understand that the HSE\u2019s health advice is not based on the subjectivity of whether water is discoloured or not, but on evidence-based manganese concentration levels in drinking water in relation to health,\u201d the HSE said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            \u201cThe HSE emphasises that, if consumers in affected areas are being exposed to drinking water with manganese levels above 80\u00b5g\/l on an ongoing basis, then our immediate recommendation would be a \u2018Do Not Consume\u2019 notice.\u201d\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Mr Gould said he was \u201cdisgusted\u201d by what he had read in the documents released to him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cFor over three years, I, along with our community, have been raising serious concerns at the quality of water on the northside,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cI am now calling for an independent review into Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s handling of this situation. This must be escalated to the highest level \u2014 the EU drinking water regulations have been breached, and this should now be referred for independent investigation to the EU Commission,\u201d Mr Gould said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cI believe that trust in Uisce \u00c9ireann is now at an all-time low, and will be fully eroded with these revelations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            \u201cThey must provide an alternative drinking supply now. Manganese cannot be boiled out of water, and for many people, the cost-of-living crisis means they cannot afford to buy bottled water or they are having to sacrifice other necessities to supply their home with clean, dependable water.\u201d\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">A spokesperson for Uisce \u00c9ireann said it wanted to reassure the public that it was taking comprehensive action to address the issue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cWe\u2019ve had a dedicated task force of experts in place for the past 19 months \u2014 working on targeted solutions and long-term improvements,\u201d the utility stated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Among those measures, it listed an extensive sampling and testing programme; continued rehabilitation of the city\u2019s water mains; and investment in advanced treatment processes at the Lee Rd water treatment plant to reduce instances of manganese and iron in the network.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cEarly indications point to these steps as having a positive impact at both the plant and on the network, resulting in a significant decrease of 42% on reports of discolouration year to date, when compared to the same period in 2024,\u201d the spokesperson stated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cIn 2025, the vast majority of samples taken across the network are compliant: with 94% of the test results compliant for manganese, 96% compliant for iron, and 94% compliant for colour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cWhere exceedances have occurred, they have been addressed through remedial measures, including targeted flushing and follow-up sampling, until a compliant result is achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The spokesperson said Uisce \u00c9ireann continues to advise customers not to drink discoloured water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The HSE has castigated Uisce \u00c9ireann for not informing consumers that drinking water in Cork city contained high&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,2737,18,60,19,17,14187,446],"class_list":{"0":"post-71630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-cork-city-centre","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-hse","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-irish-water","15":"tag-uisce-eireann"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}