Irish Water ordered to carry out clean-up of sludge released into river in North Cork

Sludge from water treatment plant near village of Freemount discharged into River Allow over several days in August, audit found

The EPA has also instructed Irish Water to implement an action programme to improve the sludge-handling facilities at the plant to prevent a recurrence of the issue.

Irish Water has been ordered to carry out a clean-up of the River Allow in North Cork due to a discharge of sludge from a water treatment plant near the village of Freemount this summer.

An audit of the Allow regional public water supply by the Environmental Protection Agency found sludge had been discharged into the river over several days from August 5.

A water treatment plant near Freemount provides 2,145 cubic metres of water daily to a population of 3,370 in North Cork, close to the border with Limerick.

The EPA said both it and Cork County Council received a complaint on August 9 from the Local Authority Waters Programme — a shared service between the country’s 31 city and county councils — about the discharge of sludge from the Freemount plant into the River Allow.

An audit of the Freemount plant later that month noted sludge was typically removed off site for treatment every 10 days prior to the incident in August.

It also found there was the potential for the overflow of wastewater and sludge from holding tanks into the river when a certain valve was closed.

EPA officials discovered that cleaning of the sludge holding tanks which normally was carried out every six weeks had not occurred over the summer as the normal caretaker was on leave.

They noted the sludge level in the tank was not being regularly monitored prior to the incident in August.

In addition, the audit found out that chlorine monitors at the plant were not installed at a suitable sample location to verify water was sufficiently treated.

As a result of the audit's findings, the EPA has also instructed Irish Water to implement an action programme to improve the sludge-handling facilities at the plant to prevent a recurrence of the issue.

As part of the clean-up of the Allow’s river bed close to the plant, the EPA said the utility company should also liaise with Inland Fisheries Ireland in relation to the operation.

The EPA said Irish Water should ensure its handling and disposal of sludge at the Freemount plant was not in contravention of the Waste Management Act.

It directed that the discharge of sludge into the river should cease immediately.

Officials from Irish Water and Cork County Council informed the EPA that wastewater levels in the sludge tank are now recorded daily to highlight when sludge needs to be removed offsite.

Four loads of sludge are also now being removed on a weekly basis from the plant.