Crews are continuing to make progress to lift the Boil Water Notice (BWN) currently in place in Macroom.

The BWN affects customers supplied by the Macroom Public Water Supply. It was first issued on 13 November, following consultation with the HSE, as a precautionary measure due to elevated turbidity in the supply.

This notice impacts approximately 4,237 customers in Macroom town, Codrum, Masseytown, Kilnagurteen, Coolehane, Coolcower, Macloneigh, Carrigadrohid, and surrounding areas.

Uisce Éireann is progressing works to lift the notice as quickly and as safely as possible, in consultation with the HSE. It is still hoped that this can be achieved by late January. In the longer term, Uisce Éireann is also progressing a major project to upgrade and modernise Macroom Water Treatment Plant to increase its capacity, provide increased resilience, and secure the water supply in Macroom and surrounding areas. The upgrade, which has been prioritised for investment, will also include the provision of new rapid gravity type filters and new coagulation and flocculation equipment, providing increased protection against issues with raw water quality, including Turbidity, and will significantly reduce occurrences of BWNs in the future. These works will be carried out as part of a package included in a new national Water Treatment Contract. Tenders have just been returned and it is anticipated that a contractor will be appointed in mid-2023.

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Uisce Éireann Operations Lead, Niall O'Riordan said: "Public health is Uisce Éireann’s number one priority. We acknowledge the inconvenience caused to homes and businesses over the last number of weeks. We had increased our efforts in an attempt to try and lift the notice before Christmas, however, Boil Water Notices are very complex and unfortunately we are not in a position to lift the notice until early in the new year. We will continue to keep the community as informed as possible and again thank everyone for their patience as we work towards lifting this Boil Water Notice, in consultation with the HSE."