Irish Water has proposed a series of improvement works in Clogh and Castlecomer, Kilkenny, to help address the discolouration of the water supply.

The works will involve refurbishing key elements of the Clogh Water Treatment Plant; implementing a reservoir cleaning programme in the area; and carrying out ice-pigging to remove manganese deposits that have built up over many years in the pipe.

An assessment and testing of the Clogh Water Treatment Plant is underway, with plans to refurbish the existing chemical dosing and filtration systems.

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Further assessments have also begun at a number of reservoirs in the Kilkenny area.

James O'Toole, operations lead for Kilkenny, said: "We are fully aware of the inconvenience and concern this issue is causing for the people of Clogh/Castlecomer and are committed to resolving it. This is a legacy issue associated with the ageing water supply infrastructure and the natural conditions of the area. We have now committed significant investment to improving water quality in the area and while we acknowledge that the naturally occurring manganese is very difficult to remove from the raw water we would like to reassure customers that we will take all reasonable steps to work through the constraints facing us to minimise the manganese in the drinking water supply."

The proposed works are to begin in the coming months.

(CM)