Residents of the St Bridget’s Terrace and Green Road areas of Mullingar have been warned to exercise caution when using tap water, following the discovery of raised levels of lead in the water supply to their homes.
Recent testing of drinking water in houses in these areas found elevated levels of lead above the recommended limit of 25 micrograms per litre in some samples.
The council is now advising that water with lead levels above the recommended limit should not be consumed by young children and pregnant women.
According to the council, the most likely explanation for the increased lead levels is lead pipework within the houses and/or lead service pipes from the mains to the stopcocks outside the houses. The water leaving the council’s water treatment plant at Portloman (Lough Owel ) does not contain lead and is of a very high quality.
Having consulted with the HSE, the council has contacted all householders in St Bridget’s Terrace and Green Road to offer advice on what to do to reduce the risk from lead in the water supply.
“Standard HSE advice to residents who live in houses built before the 1970s is to drink water from the kitchen cold tap only and not to drink water from the hot tap or from the bathroom. If there is a lead pipe supplying the house, it should be replaced,” read a statement from the council released yesterday.
“Until such time as it is replaced, householders should not drink water that has been standing in the pipes for long periods, overnight, or for more than six hours while no one has been at home. In these circumstances, fill the kitchen sink twice from the cold tap before drawing water for drinking or cooking.”
This advice is particularly important for infants, young children under six years of age, and pregnant women.
The council advised residents of Green Road that running the water in this way (flushing ) reduced lead to below recommended levels in all cases. The HSE has advised that ‘flushed’ water in the Green Road is therefore safe for everybody to drink and cook with.
At St Bridget’s Terrace, however, flushing did not reduce lead levels to below recommended levels in all of the houses tested. The HSE has therefore advised that ‘flushed’ water in St Bridget’s Terrace should be used for drinking and cooking by adults only. Children under six years of age and pregnant women are advised to use an alternative water supply for drinking and cooking. It is safe for everyone for bathing, showering, brushing teeth, and washing dishes and clothes.
The council will be providing an alternative supply from standpipes in St Bridget’s Terrace, which will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The water in the standpipes is safe to drink, but as the containers used by the householders to collect the water might not be as sterile as desired, residents are advised to boil the water taken from the standpipes, as a precaution.
“The inconvenience caused to households in the affected areas is regretted and is due to the use of lead pipework within the houses and/or lead service pipes from the mains to the stopcock outside the houses,” continued the statement.
“The situation will be improved when the mains rehabilitation works are complete, but in the meantime householders in the affected areas should follow the advice provided on use of the water supply.”
The old cast iron water mains in the St Bridget’s Terrace and Green Road area are included in a water mains rehabilitation programme planned for Mullingar and Athlone, and during the works, lead connections from the mains to the stopcock will be replaced.
