People with dementia drinking Cork's dirty water, Dáil told

People in Cork are spending up to €20 a week on bottled water because they can’t rely on the domestic water supply, the Dáil heard.

Vulnerable people with dementia are unknowingly drinking dirty brown water because of ongoing problems with Cork’s drinking water supply, the Dáil has been told.

Laundry has been ruined, household appliances like dishwaters and washing machines have been destroyed, and people are spending up to €20 a week on bottled water because they can’t rely on the domestic water supply, two of the city’s northside TDs said.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, and his constituency colleague, Solidarity TD Mick Barry, demanded a clear plan and timetable from Uisce Eireann to resolve the problem which has been ongoing for over 18-months.

Mr Gould said a constituent contacted him recently to say he had found his elderly mother, who has dementia, drinking glasses of brown water.

“Before Christmas, I asked people to contact my office if they had issues with water. Hundreds of people got in touch, many of them with stories of water that had been discoloured for months on and off.” 

Mr Barry asked: “When is Uisce Eireann going to stop making excuses for this situation and set out a plan for solving it?

“Laundry has been ruined, washing machines and dishwashers have been wrecked, and people are spending up to €20 a week during a cost of living crisis on bottled water because they are nervous about what’s coming out of the taps. Cork has three government ministers at the Cabinet table — they have all been very quiet about this.” 

Minister of State Malcolm Noonan said just over half of the city’s 600km of water mains are old cast iron pipes, which are prone to bursts, leaks, and sediment dislodging.

He said Uisce Eireann is committed to carrying out all necessary works to reduce the incidents of discolouration, including targeted flushing in affected areas, with a downward trend in reported cases in recent weeks.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

The issue was raised in the Dáil a day after Cork’s city councillors grilled Uisce Eireann about the problems, which first emerged following the commissioning of the city’s new €40m water treatment plant on the Lee Road in July 2022.

The utility normally gets between 10 and 20 complaints a week in Cork City about discolouration of the water but it told councillors it had identified three separate phases of major spikes in complaints since the plant came on stream.

The first phase between August and September 2022 saw weekly complaints peak at 119 in one week that August.

The second phase between November 2022 and the following February saw a peak of 86 complaints in one week in late November, with the third phase between last September and October seeing 121 complaints about discoloured water received in one week in early October.