Councillors claim river is too polluted to use in public water supply

A STRONG case has been made against using the River Roughty, in south Kerry, as a source for a new public water supply in Kenmare.

Some local councillors have claimed the well-known angling river is so polluted that children are not allowed to swim in it, while farmers are also opposed to abstracting Roughty water for human consumption.

A deputation from the Kilgarvan area told a council committee meeting that farming activities would be severely curbed, as there would be restrictions on slurry spreading and other agricultural practices, under European Union directives, if the river was to be used for public supplies.

Local councillors Michael and Danny Healy-Rae and Patrick Connor Scarteen called on council engineers to look to mountain lakes such as Lough Eirk and Lake Barfinnihy, near Kenmare, rather than rivers, as sources.

A new pipe network and treatment plant are presently being provided for a badly-needed water scheme in Kenmare, but a source of additional water has not yet been announced.

Senior water services engineer Fergus Dillon said a lot of investigation and consultation had to be done in selecting sources for the scheme.

A number of options were being looked at and it was hoped to have a final recommendation in a few weeks, he added.

“Whatever sources are chosen will have to be defended vehemently by the council, which must put forward reasons why one source is chosen rather than another. All possible sources must be looked at,” Mr Dillon said.

Rivers were common sources of drinking water, he said.

“Whatever is the best option [for Kenmare] will be recommended and it probably won’t be the Roughty,” he continued.

Mr Dillon, replying to fears about cryptosporidium, said he wanted to give an assurance that tests in the Roughty found the water to be up to the standard for blue flag beaches.

“I would see no reason why young people could not take a dip in the Roughty on a warm summer’s day,” he said.

Mr Danny Healy-Rae said water in the Roughty turned “dirty, brown and black” in times of flood.

“Raw sewage flows out of the treatment plant [in Kilgarvan] into the Roughty on rainy days,” he said.