Kerry residents seek waiver as lead levels are 10 times legal limit

Residents of one of Kerry’s largest and oldest housing estates, St Brendan’s Park, in the heart of Tralee are seeking a waiver of their water charges after tests found lead levels up to 10 times the legal limit.

The Environmental Protection Agency is prosecuting Irish Water and Kerry County Council for failing to replace the lead water mains supplying the estate in Tralee.

St Brendan’s Park was built in the 1950s and its 275 houses are supplied by lead water mains.

The Environmental Protection Agency ordered that these lead mains be replaced three years ago,

Independent tests revealed that levels of lead in the water supply were more than 15 times the legal limit.

Frustrated by the delays in replacing the lead pipes, residents of St Brendan’s Park are demanding a declaration that their water is unfit for consumption, and they are seeking a waiver of their water charges until the problem is fixed.

Irish Water says work on replacing the lead pipes in this estate is scheduled to begin by the of the month and will last for up to eight months.

But it insists that declaring the water unsafe for consumption and granting residents a waiver of water charges are not its responsibility.

A meeting of Kerry County Council yesterday heard how the HSE would have to declare the water unsafe.