Clontarf Water Supply Contamination - latest information

LATEST PRESS RELEASE FROM DCC - 12:15 pm

Update re Disruption of Water Supply in St Lawrence’s District Meter Area (DMA) of Clontarf – Tests show marked improvement

 Water tankers will still be located at the following areas until 9:00pm tonight (Wednesday):

• St Lawrence Road at the Howth Road
• Castle Avenue at Kincora Avenue

However, it has been confirmed that boiling water for drinking or cooking is safe, and it is safe to use tap water for bathing, washing dishes, and laundry. 

More information is available here and here.  

5.30pm, Tuesday 7th August
 
RE: Water Quality in Clontarf, the area From the Howth Road to Castle Avenue and from the Howth Rd at Collins Avenue to Clontarf Rd.

As part of routine water quality monitoring by Dublin City Council in the past week, it was identified that there was a water quality issue affecting one of our 220 water supply zones, the St Lawrence’s DMA area of Clontarf comprising approximately 1,400 properties. Initial water sampling tests provided indicator results showing a presence of bacteria and this information alerted the Council to carry out further tests over the past 3 days.

Test results this evening (Tuesday 7th August) show water quality in the St Lawrence’s DMA area have significantly improved. All tests undertaken by Dublin City Council's Central Laboratory have confirmed that there is no presence of e-coli in any of the samples. Following discussion with the HSE, Dublin City Council confirms that people in the district meter area can boil water for drinking or cooking while supplementary tests are undertaken and while the system is cleaned; it is safe to use water directly from the taps to bathe in, wash dishes and do laundry.

Testing will continue in the coming days. 

Dublin City Council water tankers are on site in the affected area of Clontarf to supply water to householders and businesses (see website for latest information on times and locations www.dublincity.ie) 

City Council crews are also on site disinfecting mains and this process will continue during the coming days until such time as results are clear.Test results in adjacent water supply zones confirmed the issue was localised to the St. Lawrence DMA in Clontarf. Test results also confirm that the inlet water to the area is crystal clear and fully complies with drinking water standards.

ENDS.
 
An advisory notice was issued to all approx. 1,400 properties in the full DMA (area inside the purple boundary on the attached map). This advisory notice was delivered by hand to all the properties by late Sunday night by Water Services Division staff.
Care should be taken if boiling water to avoid hazard.

LATEST UPDATE: 17.48 - We are hearing reports via Aodhan O'Riordain, TD, that DCC are now saying that water is safe but only if it is boiled. More to follow. 

Following on from our story over the weekend, we have the latest information to hand on the water supply issue in Clontarf.

• The list of roads affected remains unchanged. Note that Kinocra Ave was originally not incuded on the DCC website. You can view the map of the affected areas here or download the map as a PDF file.
• The water sampling test results completed to date were indicator results and indicate a possible presence of bacteria.
• All the water sampling tests completed to date by both the HSE and Dublin City Council's Central Laboratory have confirmed that there is no presence of e-coli or metals such as lead in any of the samples.
• Water tankers are back in Clontarf this morning. We think there's a large tanker on Castle Avenue near the Victoria Road junction. There's also a mobile unit which at 9.45am was at the bottom of St. Lawrence Rd. However, it will move around throughout the day. According to DCC, the tankers will be there until 9pm and were in place from 6.00am.
• If there are elderly people who are not in a position to collect water DCC can have water brought to them if email is forwarded to Catherine.brownlee@dublincity.ie
• There are water bags available so you don't need to bring a container unless you want to. But please bring back your bags for refills as they are reusable.
• There is also a team of DCC staff with digging equipment at the junction of Castle Avenue and the Clontarf Road. The staff on the ground have told us that that they are going to dig to the source of the contamination and try and 'flush it out'.
• We don't as yet know the precise nature of the contamination.

If we get any further information, we will let you know or if you have any information please get in touch with us at info@loveclontarf.ie