A BOIL water notice that let to “chaos, confusion, and concern” across Limerick, and had local councillors calling for a formal apology and an “immediate investigation” into communication and IT processes at Uisce Éireann, has been lifted.
Uisce Éireann (UÉ) issued a boil notice yesterday evening (May 15) for some areas across Limerick City, including Corbally, the Mill Road, Moyross, and Long Pavement.
Areas of County Clare were also included on the notice, namely Westbury, Parteen, Larkins Cross, Ardnacrusha, Shannon Banks, Knockalisheen, and Clonlara.
The notice was due to a “possible inadequate disinfection” issue at the Limerick City and Environs Public Water Supply plant and leaving the Newcastle reservoir near Monaleen.
As of this Friday evening, UÉ has confirmed that the boil notice has been lifted, and the water utility said that those in impacted areas “can resume normal use of the public water supply”.
“Uisce Éireann wishes to notify customers that, following the completion of remedial measures and the receipt of satisfactory monitoring results, the boil water notice for customers supplied by parts of the Limerick City and Environs Public Water Supply is now lifted with immediate effect,” a UÉ statement read.
“This decision follows consultation undertaken with the Health Service Executive.”
The utility said that it acknowledged “the patience, cooperation, and assistance of the public during the period of the boil water notice and greatly regrets any inconvenience caused to householders and the business community”.
A number of local councillors hit out earlier this Friday morning at the water utility after a “glitch” in its website led thousands in unimpacted across the city to incorrectly believe they had been affected by the notice.
Speaking to Limerick’s Live95 radio station this morning, Eoin O’Connell of UÉ explained that “there was an issue or some sort of a glitch on our system” which led to homes and businesses in unaffected areas of the city entering their eircodes into the checking application on water.ie finding that they were incorrectly described as being part of the boil notice.
Green Party councillor Seán Hartigan told the Limerick Post he spent Thursday night speaking with UÉ after “a lot of confusion about the boil water notice, particularly for schools and businesses”.
“Bookings in businesses with no boil water notice were cancelled,” he added.
Cllr Hartigan hit out that “if Uisce Éireann cannot be trusted to manage a small local issue like this, can we trust them with delivering a €10billion pipeline connecting the Shannon to Dublin?”
Fine Gael councillor for Limerick City West also condemned UÉ for the technical error on its website, deeming it a “major communication failure that led to widespread panic”.
“This morning’s events were nothing short of disgraceful,” Cllr Butler said. “To publish such a blanket notice without verification or clarity triggered chaos, confusion, and concern among the people of Limerick.”
“As an elected representative, I found myself fielding calls and trying to manage the fallout of a situation that Irish Water should have been fully in control of,” he added.
“This isn’t just a technical glitch. It’s a serious failure in public service. The people of Limerick deserve better. Irish Water must issue a formal apology, explain how this happened, and lay out clear steps to ensure it never happens again.”
Cllr Butler also called for “an immediate investigation into the incident and for Irish Water to appear before local representatives to account for the failures witnessed today”.
Following the lifting of the notice, UÉ operations manager Eoin O’Connell acknowledged “the impact of the boil water notices on customers impacted”.
“Uisce Éireann’s primary focus remains the protection of public health and we worked with our stakeholders to lift the notice as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience caused and appreciate the community’s patience and support while we worked to lift this notice.
“We would also like to thank the local elected representatives and the media for their assistance in sharing the information during the period of this boil water notice,” he said.
Uisce Éireann said that its “drinking water standards, as per EU Drinking Water regulations, are strict and include wide safety margins”.
“Where risks to water quality are identified through Uisce Éireann’s enhanced testing and monitoring programme, the HSE is notified, and boil water notices are issued to protect public health.
“In all instances immediate action is taken to address the cause of the issue to enable the lifting of the notice as quickly as it is safe to do so, in agreement with the HSE.”
The water service reiterated that “drinking water experts from Uisce Éireann worked to lift the notice as quickly and as safely as possible. Following satisfactory water sampling results, the notice has now been lifted.”
