Despite our high annual rainfall, the Republic has a major problem with the quality of its drinking water. The recent Environmental Protection Agency report on water quality, released late last year, detailed a catalogue of problems with the majority of small rural supply schemes which suffer from chemical and bacteriological contamination.
The Government is facing a case in the European Court for non-compliance with EU water quality requirements and development of both housing and tourism infrastructure is held up in some regions due to a lack of adequate water supply. Efforts are under way, however, to try and turn things around, according to Mr Sean Clerkin, joint national co-ordinator of the National Federation of Group Water Schemes. The federation acts on behalf of the 5,500 group water schemes operating in the Republic, which serve between 160,000 and 170,000 households, he said.
It was established to help the group schemes to meet EU water quality regulations. "Many would be in a poor and dilapidated state," he said. The federation is grant aided by the State and works directly with the operators of the small rural schemes. "Our main function is to raise awareness so that water complies with EU regulations. Our role is mainly educational."
The Government recently announced its Rural Water Programme under the National Development Plan and has allocated £430 million (€456 million) to improve small water schemes over the next six years.
The federation, in co-operation with the Department of the Environment, is overseeing a number of State-funded pilot projects using a variety of new technologies that could be used by small schemes. Group schemes cater for just a few houses up to 500 households.
One pilot project to be commissioned later this month at the Glaslough-Tyholland group water scheme in Co Monaghan involves technology developed by a small Irish firm, Fay Environmental. The scheme serves about 450 homes plus several farms and commercial units in the area and draws its water from Emy Lough.
The family-run company was established just over a year ago and involves father, Jim Fay, and his two sons David and Graham. Jim has been involved in developing water and sewage treatment systems in the Republic since 1966 and his son David worked for Thames Water Board and on water treatment works in the Middle East.
Together they have designed a "chemical-free" water treatment system which uses ozone gas rather than metal-based flocculates to clean up raw lake water. "There is nothing like it in Ireland either in the public or private system," said Mr Jim Fay.
The company won the £1 million contract for the Glaslough-Tyholland scheme after competitive tendering in late 1998. The contract was awarded in January 1999 and the company is scheduled to commission the system in less than two weeks and be ready for a handover by some time next month. Most existing water treatment plants involve initial sand filtering to clear off lake algae and other impurities before treatment with aluminium or iron-based flocculates, chemicals such as alum which clear the water of suspended impurities.
The resultant "floc" causes disposal problems however, Mr Fay said. Their metal content means that many landfill sites will not take the material for burial and large volumes of floc build up over a fairly short time if the raw water is comparatively dirty.
The F. E. Chemless system uses a very fine five micron filtering system to take off initial impurities and the filter system can be cleaned by back-washing during normal operation. This material can be returned to the lake but contains no chemicals and so could be dried and used around onsite flower beds, according to Mr Fay said.
"It is what came out of the lake," he added and is not toxic. The filtered water is then tanked and dosed with ozone, an oxygen gas which has a powerful oxidising action which both kills off bacterial and viral contamination but also "bleaches" the suspended material, leaving behind clear water.
This is next run through a "dual media filter" made up of sand and anthracite to clear any solids left behind by the oxidation and then is sent through granulated carbon for its "final polishing", Mr Fay explained.
The water is then pumped into holding tanks and piped out to the consumer via the existing pipe network. The only additive is a small amount of chlorine which is required by law, according to Mr Fay, to maintain bacteriological standards while being held in the tanks. The ozone treatment serves two purposes, he said.
"We are using it for disinfection as well as oxidising the materials which are colouring the water." The system can output 26,400 gallons of pure water per hour and runs for eight hours per day. The ozone gas is generated by an electric spark and is designed to run at night to make use of cheaper electricity. Operating costs are between £6,000 and £7,000 including electricity over a year, Mr Fay said.
The plant also uses a significant level of computer technology. "The plant is fully automatic," he said. The status of 150 items including valves, pipework and gas systems is monitored and downloaded to the company's office via modem.
The raw and finished water flow rates, acidity, colour and turbidity are also assessed on a continual basis by the remote operator. It is not necessary to have someone on hand to monitor chlorine or flocculate addition or to oversee floc disposal. "We don't have a sludge to dispose of," he said.
The company won a contract for a second system for the Clifferna group water scheme near Cavan town and hopes these two schemes will demonstrate the merits of its "chemical free" systems.
Pressure from the EU ensures that there will be a guaranteed market for small scale water purification systems in the coming years, whatever technology is eventually selected.
