Swimming in pools supplied by the Leixlip Water Treatment Plant

mrcheez

Hi, I swim in a pool located in an area affected by the Leixlip incident this week.

The pool is chlorinated, but it is inevitable that some water will get in one's mouth when swimming with head submerged.

Is it advisable to avoid swimming in these pools for now (apart from when you can keep your head above water), or will chlorine in the pool kill any bacteria?

Irish Water: Daniel V

Hi mrcheez,

Thank you for getting in touch.

mrcheez wrote: »

Hi, I swim in a pool located in an area affected by the Leixlip incident this week.

The pool is chlorinated, but it is inevitable that some water will get in one's mouth when swimming with head submerged.

Is it advisable to avoid swimming in these pools for now (apart from when you can keep your head above water), or will chlorine in the pool kill any bacteria?

I advise you to contact the Management Company of this swimming pool directly and they should be able to answer any queries that you may have in relation to this. We wouldn't be aware of any disinfectant systems that they may employ for this.

Thanks,
Daniel

Get Real

I wouldn't think there'd be any adverse impact on the pool in general than any normal day.

Urine, skin, hair, faecal matter, is a fact of life in pools. The chlorine does it's job. (Or mostly anyway, the immune system doing the rest)

I wouldn't imagine there's any more "risk" of anything bad happening by taking a dip.

It's mostly out of precaution and for the already ill & elderly. Our untreated tap water, is in better nick than what alot of people drink for water around the world on a daily basis.

mrcheez

Irish Water: Daniel V wrote: »

Hi mrcheez,

Thank you for getting in touch.

mrcheez wrote: »

Hi, I swim in a pool located in an area affected by the Leixlip incident this week.

The pool is chlorinated, but it is inevitable that some water will get in one's mouth when swimming with head submerged.

Is it advisable to avoid swimming in these pools for now (apart from when you can keep your head above water), or will chlorine in the pool kill any bacteria?

I advise you to contact the Management Company of this swimming pool directly and they should be able to answer any queries that you may have in relation to this. We wouldn't be aware of any disinfectant systems that they may employ for this.

Thanks,
Daniel

Hi Daniel,

Thanks. I guess the query is mainly: will chlorine get rid of the particular bacteria that got through in the recent incident?

I imagine it will as Get Real mentioned bacteria is fairly common in pools anyway, but was just curious if there was anything out of the ordinary in this case.

danemail

A quick check shows that apparently chlorine will kill giardia but does not kill crypto - having seen the illness crypto can cause I would not knowingly swim in a pool filled with water from a contaminated source.

Irish Water why are there no details about how long this failure has been going on?? How long have we been consuming contaminated water? Its all well and good telling us to boil it now but whats the point if we've all been drinking it before the warning? Why when the issue was discovered at 11am did it take until 6.30pm to notify the public???

An EPA audit report from only last March shows that there was a systems failure at the Leixlip plant where the crypto barrier was down for hours, an alarm not noticed by a plant worker until the shift changed, yet the public were not notified.

Irish Water: Daniel V

Hi mrcheez,

Thank you for your message.

mrcheez wrote: »

Irish Water: Daniel V wrote: »

Hi mrcheez,

Thank you for getting in touch.

mrcheez wrote: »

Hi, I swim in a pool located in an area affected by the Leixlip incident this week.

The pool is chlorinated, but it is inevitable that some water will get in one's mouth when swimming with head submerged.

Is it advisable to avoid swimming in these pools for now (apart from when you can keep your head above water), or will chlorine in the pool kill any bacteria?

I advise you to contact the Management Company of this swimming pool directly and they should be able to answer any queries that you may have in relation to this. We wouldn't be aware of any disinfectant systems that they may employ for this.

Thanks,
Daniel

Hi Daniel,

Thanks. I guess the query is mainly: will chlorine get rid of the particular bacteria that got through in the recent incident?

I imagine it will as Get Real mentioned bacteria is fairly common in pools anyway, but was just curious if there was anything out of the ordinary in this case.

There was a mechanical fault at the plant that led to the treatment process being compromised and this has now been resolved. We do not have information on whether the level of chlorination at this swimming pool would be able to resolve any contamination. I recommend that you contact the Management Company in relation to this. If you have consumed any of the water from your taps without boiling, I recommend that you check HSE advice in relation to this here.

Thanks,
Daniel

Irish Water: Daniel V

Hi danemail,

Thank you for your message and apologies for the inconvenience.

danemail wrote: »

A quick check shows that apparently chlorine will kill giardia but does not kill crypto - having seen the illness crypto can cause I would not knowingly swim in a pool filled with water from a contaminated source.

Irish Water why are there no details about how long this failure has been going on?? How long have we been consuming contaminated water? Its all well and good telling us to boil it now but whats the point if we've all been drinking it before the warning? Why when the issue was discovered at 11am did it take until 6.30pm to notify the public???

An EPA audit report from only last March shows that there was a systems failure at the Leixlip plant where the crypto barrier was down for hours, an alarm not noticed by a plant worker until the shift changed, yet the public were not notified.

There was a mechanical fault at the plant that led to the treatment process being compromised and this has now been resolved. Following identification of the fault we consulted with the HSE and to protect public health a Boil Water Notice was put in place. The notice was put in place with immediate effect on Tuesday evening. For further information in relation to the risks about consumption, please refer to the HSE advice in relation to this here.

Thanks,
Daniel