Uisce Éireann under fire for 'sludge and filth' pouring from Cork City taps

Councillors said the utility had been under fire for weeks over persistent water discolouration problems affecting homes across the northside.

Sludge and filth is pouring from household taps across Cork’s northside, it has been claimed as Uisce Éireann was criticised for persistent discolouration of the drinking water in parts of the city.

The claim was made by Workers' Party councillor Ted Tynan as several members of Cork City Council slated the utility for not resolving the discolouration problems.

They said they have received several repeat complaints in recent weeks from constituents about the issue, particularly in suburbs on the northside.

Mr Tynan said he visited several homes in the Mayfield area on Monday to investigate some of the complaints, and he told Monday's city council meeting that “sludge and filth is coming from the taps”.

“Handing our resources over to Irish Water was a major mistake,” he said.

The issue was discussed during a debate on a motion from Fianna Fáil councillor John Sheehan calling on Uisce Éireann to improve its communications to householders affected by water outages.

But councillors said the utility had been under fire for weeks over persistent water discolouration problems affecting homes across the northside.

The Irish Examiner reported last week how householders have been posting photos and videos on social media for weeks showing brown water flowing from their taps.

It was reported on Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an “open investigation file” in relation to the issue.

Brown water on the northside of Cork City

Uisce Éireann said the problems have occurred following a change in the pumping regime used to get the water from the new water treatment plant on the Lee Road uphill to the three reservoirs on the northside.

Water was being pumped through the ageing pipe network at a higher velocity, stripping deposits from the inside of the pipes.

But Sinn Féin councillor Mick Nugent said it was unbelievable this was happening in a modern city.

“We should have a collective message coming out of here tonight that this is just not good enough,” he said.

Independent councillor Ken O’Flynn criticised Oireachtas members for not tackling the issue head on.

“The silence is deafening from some northside TDs,” he said.

Fine Gael councillor Joe Kavanagh said he knew of householders who had been buying bottled water for months because of the water quality issue.

“Uisce Éireann don’t seem to take a blind bit of notice of elected councillors,” he said.

Fianna Fáil councillor Tony Fitzgerald said it was a “health and wellbeing issue” now and needs to be addressed, while Labour councillor John Maher accused City Hall of washing its hands of the matter after confirming it was no longer responsible for operating and maintaining public drinking water infrastructure and supplies in the city.

Green Party councillor Dan Boyle, chair of the council’s environment strategic policy committee, said he would invite Irish Water to address the committee in early January.