As Irish Water reviews its operational plans to disconnect the public water supply to Rathmullan from Loch Colm in Milford, Senator Padraig MacLochlainn said the strategy and running of the system is one of chaos and needs a ministerial enquiry urgently.
He said the news was both astonishing and contradictory given that only in March this year Irish Water announced an investment of €820,000 to complete the project by the end of August to comply with EU regulations.
We understand that with Loch Colum at crisis point, the disconnection of the Rathmullan service will save around 350 cubic metres of water per day at the Milford reservoir.
Senator MacLochlainn has now asked the Environment Minister to carry out or commission an independent investigation into the recent allocation of financial resources by Irish Water for the Milford area.
“I understand that a mobile treatment plant is now to be put in place at Gort Lough above Rathmullan in a bid to reduce THM levels in compliance with EU guidelines. In March Irish Water announced the closure of Gort Lough as a source for public water due to this same problem,” says Ian McGarvey.
Meanwhile, Irish Water has announced that as water levels at Loch Colm dropped a further three inches in one week, the current level of the supply is some 130 inches below the level of the weir.
Padraig MacLochlainn. Pic by Northwest Newspix.
Local farmers blame over extraction by Irish Water and they are describing the latest developments as not at all surprising and it seemed that Irish Water was based in the Sahara Desert.
Senator MacLochlainn said it seemed chaotic and unbelievable that only last March Irish Water announced a major investment programme of €820,000 to bring a supply to Rathmullan from Milford and now they’ve been forced to abandon the project… due to a lack of water.
Senator MacLochlainn said that Irish Water would have been fully aware the Loch Colm source was already in serious difficulties and was never going to be able to supply Rathmullan under any circumstances.
Meanwhile Cllr. Ian McGarvey said he was worried that Irish Water appears to be more concerned about who is ‘leaking’ information to the Tirconaill Tribune rather than dealing with the leaking of 50% of treated public water into the ground.
Cllr. McGarvey said he is not at all surprised to discover that Irish Water is preparing to disconnect Rathmullan from the Milford supply because everyone in the public domain knew that the capacity of Loch Colm was already over stretched and he now feared it was being subject to damage beyond repair because of too much extraction and pressure on the source.
Padraig MacLochlainn added: “How can they (Irish Water) justify that kind of planning and given the huge amount of money involved in future investment for Donegal’s water services, I wonder to what extent can we be reassured that Irish Water is the best utility to carry out this work,” added the SF Senator.
In his correspondence on Wednesday to Minister Eoghan Murphy, Senator MacLochlainn said: “I am writing to you to outline my serious concern about the allocation of financial resources by Irish Water to water infrastructure in the Milford area of Donegal. €820,000 is being spent this year to improve the quality of water supply to the community in Rathmullan, Co. Donegal.
“Much of this investment is in water pipe replacement to facilitate water being taken from the Milford Town supply over to Rathmullan.
“Yet, as you will see from the recent Irish Water update to Oireachtas members we are now advised that the water supply to Milford Town and other local communities at Lough Colm is 130” below the desired level (a drought) and they now will need to invest in remedial measures to redirect water from other sources over to the Lough Colm supply.
“And remarkably, they indicate that they may need to disconnect 450m3/day of water from the Rathmullan supply. This follows an expenditure of €820,000 this year to take this water to Rathmullan!
“Minister, I am asking that your department now carry out or commission an independent investigation into the recent allocation of financial resources by Irish Water for water infrastructure in the Milford area with a particular focus on this decision to direct water from Milford to Rathmullan,” added McLochlainn’s correspondence.
Meanwhile Cllr. McGarvey said he is astonished and shocked with what is going on.
He said: “On the one hand there is a huge demand to take water away from Milford while at the same time there is a rush to bring in water to the reservoirs from Goaldrum via Bunlin Bridge and at a huge cost that the public will have to pay for eventually.”
Irish Water said that the Lough Colm level dropped in the period 08/08/2017 to 14/08/2017 by 3” to leave the current level at 130” below overflow weir. Temporary pumping (via diesel pump) of the source is ongoing as the existing siphon stopped on a few occasions due to air ingress. The diesel pump will be used as a standby after a primary electrical pump is installed over the next week. There is ongoing public concern regarding the reduced surface area and depth of Lough Colm.
Meanwhile as the heavens open in late August work are ongoing to extend Goldrum supply from Bunlin Bridge to Milford town with the job due for completion in early September.
“No quick wins have been identified for pressure management,” according to Irish Water earlier this week.
An earlier phase of spending saw Rathmullan town connected to Milford in 2013.
And as Loch Colm remained at record low levels there was local shock and consternation when Irish Water announced their new investment programme for Rathmullan. The news set alarm bells ringing in Milford because nobody in the area believed that Loch Colum could supply the demand needed to take Gort Lough out of the system.
The new Milford treatment plant was completed only six years ago with a reported output of 2000 cubic metres per day at full capacity. The current level of extraction substantially exceeds that demand.
The matter came into the public domain in early May when a Tribune photograph of Lough Colum showed that levels had fallen by around eight feet. The situation has now reached crisis point and will come up for discussion again at the Letterkenny Municipal District meeting in September.
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