The Environmental Protection Agency ordered Irish Water to eliminate the discharge of sludge from the water treatment plant in Adare, Co Limerick, into the nearby Maigue River without delay.

The State’s environmental watchdog has claimed the discharge of sludge into a Co Limerick river from a water treatment plant is “unacceptable”.

The Environmental Protection Agency ordered Irish Water to eliminate the discharge of sludge from the water treatment plant in Adare, Co Limerick, into the nearby Maigue River without delay following an audit at the end of September.

The EPA said the management of sludge from treatment processes at the Adare plant, which is located about 3km outside the village at Derryvinnane, Co Limerick, was “unsatisfactory". It found sludge generated at the plant was discharged via a pipeline to a sludge holding tank before it was released into the river about 10m downstream of where water is abstracted for the water treatment facility.

Limerick City and County Council said the sludge holding tank was cleaned up to five times a year, with all sludge sent off-site for disposal to another water treatment plant at Bunlicky, Co Limerick.

However, the EPA said there was evidence during the inspection that sludge was overflowing from the holding tank.

Irish Water claimed the problem with the sludge would be eliminated with the planned connection of a new borehole to the plant and the discontinuation of using surface water as a source for supplies.

However, the EPA stated: “It is unacceptable that this waste material is discharged to the river and should be discontinued without delay.” 

It noted Limerick City and County Council had said it did not carry out any monitoring to assess the impact of the discharges on the Maigue River.

The EPA also called on Irish Water to carry out a full ecological assessment of the impact of the discharge from the Adare water treatment plant on the river in consultation with Inland Fisheries Ireland.

The audit of the Adare plant by EPA inspectors also found it was unable to assess the performance of its barrier against cryptosporidium – a parasite that causes gastroenteritis – because it was not being operated as set out in the EPA’s manual for treating water.

However, it acknowledged there had been no detections of cryptosporidium to date at the plant since a monitoring programme was put in place in July.

Nevertheless, the EPA has called on Irish Water to consult with the HSE on the issue.

The public water scheme in Adare provides drinking water to about 2,300 living in and around the Co Limerick village.

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