Councillor calls for Dublin to share pain of Wicklow water shortages

A Co Wicklow councillor has called for water shortages being endured in the northeast of the county “to be spread evenly over the Dublin region”.

Councillor Derek Mitchell said “this is Wicklow’s water: we should have first priority or, at a very minimum, equal priority”.

Mr Mitchell was commenting after Wicklow County Council this week suspended standing orders to discuss an algal bloom at the Vartry reservoir in Roundwood. The algal bloom has led to restrictions and nightly cut-offs in Greystones and parts of Delgany, Kilmacanogue, Newtownmountkennedy and Enniskerry.

The Vartry reservoir also serves south Co Dublin through the Stillorgan reservoir, but there have been no curtailments in supply in Dublin.

“Most of the water from Wicklow is supplied to Dublin which has had no cutbacks,” said Mr Mitchell who added he had asked Wicklow TDs to raise the issue in the Dáil.

However Irish Water’s regional manager Tom Leahy said the situation with regard to the algal bloom was easing yesterday.

Algae numbers – which grow at Vartry at this time every year – peaked on April 17th at 1,750 per millilitre of water, before falling to 1,000. While the acceptable standard is just 100, Mr Leahy said things were moving in the right direction.

He said the Enniskerry reservoir had been refilled and improvements to the Drummin reservoir, which serves Greystones, had increased capacity.

However, he asked people to continue to conserve water.