Cork City has been plagues with serious and sustained problems with drinkable water - an issue that CorkBeo has reported on exhaustively for several years.
Now Prime Time investigates will - tonight - try to lift the lid on Leesides dirty water, with a major report that claims multiple, serious breaches in water safety standards have gone unreported to local residents, leaving Cork people in the dark over the true extent of the issues and the risks involved.
Tonight on RTÉ Prime Time , a report reveals that multiple breaches of drinking water standards in Cork city were not reported to residents over the past nine months.
Investigative tests carried out for Uisce Éireann (UÉ) on the water supply from the Lee Road drinking water treatment plant, which serves 70% of the city’s households, found around a third of samples tested showed excessive manganese levels last year.
CorkBeo has previously reported on the issue with excessive manganese in our water supply - along with the years long fight by local TDs to get the issue addressed in Dublin - in October of last year, TD Mick Barry showed the Dail a bottle of dirty water that came out of a tap of a constituent.
On tonight’s programme, local residents share their frustration and concern with Prime Time . Steffen Liebig, who lives with his wife Jennifer Malone and infant son, says the lack of transparency and persistent brown water are deeply worrying. In another area of North Cork city, Dan O’Shea and his family have stopped drinking tap water entirely due to ongoing discolouration. Business owner Pamela O’Keeffe, who runs Pam’s Laundrette in Gurranabraher, says the issue is damaging her livelihood.
Locals are calling for immediate action and better communication from authorities.
You can watch Prime Time tonight for the full report and interview with Uisce Éireann (UÉ) at 9.35 after the main evening news.
