UISCE Éireann has issued a statement pointing out the advice of the Health Service Executive is that ‘the benefits of using chlorine to treat our drinking water are much greater than any possible health risk from THMs (trihalomethanes)’
The statement by Uisce Éireann (UE) is a follow-on from concerns raised by Cllr Finbarr Harrington (Ind) who pointed out that the 2,347 residents of Castletownbere are drinking water from a scheme that the Environmental Protection Agency has placed on ‘a remedial list’ requiring action by UE.
Cllr Harrington said he has huge concerns because the Castletownbere Water Supply is on the action list due to elevated levels of trihalomethanes (THMs), which he claims are linked to many cancers, such a bladder and colon cancers, organ damage and reproductive issues.
A spokesperson for UE told The Southern Star: ‘Given the location of the site, and its proximity to Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Areas (SPA), appropriate assessment screening and possibly a Natura Impact Statement (NIS) will be required for Castletownbere.
‘Delivery of any capital project such as this is subject to internal governance processes, funding, planning permissions, legal and environmental regulations,’ she added.
And this can take a number of years to bring any capital project through all of these stages and to construction.
‘It is important to assure customers that water is safe to drink: THMs are chemicals which are formed by the reaction of naturally occurring dissolved organic material in the water and chlorine, which is used for disinfection purposes,’ said the spokesperson.
‘Chlorination is an essential step in the production process to ensure harmful bacteria are eliminated from your drinking water,’ she added.
‘And the clear advice from the HSE in relation to THMs and drinking water is that the ‘benefits of using chlorine to treat our drinking water are much greater than any possible health risk from THMs.’
