Report: Irish Water did not adequately respond to previous contamination scare

Latest: It has emerged that Irish Water failed to adequately respond to a previous contamination scare at the plant at the centre of the current boil water notice.

An EPA report into the March incident found that Irish Water failed to immediately test for parasites after a pump stopped working at the Leixlip water treatment plant.

The report states that it presented a significant risk to the safety of the water supply.

A decision on whether or not the boil water notice affecting Dublin, Kildare and Meath can be lifted is due this afternoon.

Yvonne Harris from Irish Water says they are putting measures in place in Leixlip to try to ensure there are no more issues.

"We will put additional resources on the plant which is already managed 24/7," said Ms Harris.

She also said that the action has already been taken where there will be automatic shutdowns if there are specific alarms.

The plant would automatically shut down if there are alarms that have not been repsonded to.

TD reports number of people sick from drinking water as boil water notice goes into third day

Update 7am: Several people have become sick from drinking from their taps during the boil water notice, according to a Fine Gael TD.

A boil water notice remains in place for 600,000 people for the third day day in a row.

Large parts of Dublin, Kildare and Meath are affected, due to a problem with the water treatment plant in Leixlip.

Irish Water says test results from a sample taken earlier this week were "satisfactory", but the notice remains in place.

Officials at Irish Water are holding a crisis management meeting this morning.

Authorities carried out an audit of the plant yesterday and will examine the results today to see if it can be lifted for the Bank Holiday weekend.

The areas affected include: Artane, Ashtown, Balbriggan, Baldoyle, Ballyboghill, Celbridge, Clonee, Clonsilla, Coolock, Coolquoy, Corduff, Darndale, Donabate, Dunboyne, Finglas, Garristown, Glasnevin, Howth, Kilbarrack, Kilclone, Killester, Kinsaley, Leixlip, Lusk, Malahide, Maynooth, Naul, Palmerstown, Poppintree, Ronanstown, Rush, Skerries, St Margaret’s, Straffan, Sutton and Swords.

A map of areas affected by the boil water notice. Pic: Irish Water

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning Irish Water General Manager Eamon Gallon said officials are cautiously optimistic the notice will be lifted this afternoon.

“It is the second sample; [it is testing] for things like cryptosporidium and giardia,” he said.

“That is the really important next test and that will be out today.

“Hopefully this afternoon the HSE will be in a position to make the decision.”

Dublin TD Noel Rock said a number of people have become ill from not heeding the ban.

He said: "It would be stomach bugs, upset stomachs, that kind of thing. So naturally for the people affected by this, it is concerning.

"We want to make sure that mistakes that were made here, both in terms of whatever went wrong in the first instance, but also in terms of the slowness of communication and the lack of clarity in communication around certain aspects of this, that these mistakes aren't repeated again."

Mr Rock, who is the chairman of the Oireachtas housing committee, wants to challenge those responsible at its meeting on November 5.

He said: "Well, I want to meet with Irish Water, with the Environmental Protection Agency and with various relevant other authorities to try and establish exactly what happened here.

"Why there has been an outage for 600,000 people, a boil water notice for 600,000 people and exactly what train of events lead to this and how can we prevent it from happening again."

The HSE said the untreated water in the system may contain cysts of cryptosporidium and giardia that could cause gastrointestinal infections – with symptoms such as diarrhoea and stomach cramps.

It said anyone who develops such symptoms should contact their GP.

Tests will be carried out at various locations in the system throughout the coming days.

People are advised to boil their water for drinking, the preparation of foods that are not cooked before eating and making ice.

Irish Water advised that when boiling water, it should be brought to a vigorous, rolling boil (eg: with an automatic kettle) and allowed to cool. It must then be covered and stored in a refrigerator or a cold place.

It said water from the hot tap is not safe to drink and domestic water filters will not render water safe to drink.

Water can be used for personal hygiene, bathing and flushing of toilets, but not for brushing teeth or gargling.