Cllr Seanie Power with samples of water from Clonea Power.
At the November Comeragh District Meeting of Waterford City and County Council, Fine Gael Cllr Seanie Power produced three samples of water taken from taps in Clonea Power.
His fellow councillors expressed shock at the condition of the water quality which he presented.
Cllr Power said the problem was caused whenever there was heavy rain and was causing many problems.
“It doesn’t have to be massively heavy rain,” he explained.
“You can imagine what that does to showers and washing machines,” he added.
Cllr Power said he didn’t believe the problem was caused by pollution, and suggested it was caused by clay running into a well which is located in a bog.
He suggested that spending more money on the well would be a waste, and asked that a connection be brought to Clonea Power from the pipe between Crotty’s Lake to Carrick-on-Suir.
Senior Executive Water Engineer David Hanratty said that would be a decision for Irish Water to make but said it was something which the council had already examined.
He said he would organise for tests to be carried out.
Cathoirleach of the Comeragh District Cllr M J O’Ryan (Fianna Fail) said the council should write a letter to Irish Water and also send a sample of the water from Clonea Power and ask them to immediately take action.
He said the water samples were of the worst you would see anywhere.
Cllr O’Ryan asked that when tests were being carried out on council pumps that staff would also visit the affected houses in the area.
Cllr Power also asked that council staff meet with local residents in order to reassure them that something was being done.
Fine Gael Cllr Liam Brazil said that in his eleven years as a councillor, the issue of water quality in Clonea Power had come up year on year.
He described the situation as “disgraceful” and said taking action on the issue had to be a priority.
“I don’t even know what’s in that water because it isn’t even sinking,” he said when examining Cllr Power’s samples.
Sinn Fein Cllr Clune said some residents had told him they had been dealing with this situation for 23 years.
“Shower heads have been destroyed and many appliances have had to be replaced,” he said.
Cllr Clune said you couldn’t blame people for not wanting to pay water charges when water of such poor quality was coming out of their taps.
Fianna Fail Cllr John O’Leary described the situation as “deplorable” and said that while he was aware that there was a problem, he had no idea that it was as bad.
Fellow Fianna Fail Cllr Mary Butler asked that the issue of sewerage in the area be examined.
Cllr Seanie Power added that untreated sewerage was flowing into the river in the village.
Mr Hanratty said the council would investigate the problem.
“We are aware that Clonea Power is one of the villages that does not have a proper sewerage treatment facility,” added CEO of the Comeragh District Brian White.
He said there was pressure from the European Union to deal with such an infrastructure deficit.
