Join our campaign “Quality water for Kildare”.  This campaign is spearheaded by the Naas Action Group.  The purpose of the campaign is to fight for quality water for the residents of Kildare.  In spring 2020, our Action Group was made aware of a worrying proposal by Irish Water to cut off the high quality of water currently supplied to many people in Kildare and instead replace this with an alternative water source which would be considered inferior.  Sign our petition to raise awareness of this issue and ensure that the high quality water supply that we currently receive is maintained.  As of September 2020, Irish Water have formally confirmed that this switchover of water supply will take place.  The project is referred to as the 'Barrow Extension Project' and is set to provide daily water consumption for 140,000 homes - largely those in Kildare.  Construction works are due to start in mid September 2020 with the project scheduled for completion in 2021.  

Below is more information about the highly concerning proposed change that will affect the water supply for Kildare people in a number of important ways.

1.       Firstly the source of the water you receive will be drastically different.  At present many Kildare residents receive their high quality water from the nearby Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant.  The current project means that Irish Water will switch the supply to water from the Srowland Water Treatment Plant which takes water from the River Barrow in Athy.

2.       Irish Water state that the water that will be supplied from the Athy based Water Treatment Plant is high quality drinking water but those who are supplied from it at present regularly complain about the water. 

3.       The main complaints about the water from Athy is that it is hard water, compared to the water from the Ballymore Water Treatment Plant which is soft water.  Hard water is damaging to appliances in your home such as your home heating system, your kettle,your immersions and electric showers.  These will have to be replaced regularly if the water supply is switched.  It is likely that many households will have to put in place water filters and have water softeners fitted.  All of this will bring about considerable annual expense.

4.       Many people complain that hard water does not taste good therefore it is likely that the people of Kildare will complain about how the alternative water supply tastes compared to the existing supply.  Those supplied from the Barrow water supply complain about the taste and a formation of scum in heated drinks and many refuse to drink it and instead buy bottled water on a regular basis.  

5.       Hard water supplies also suffer from increased turbidity which is a measure of the total suspended solids in the water.  The murkier it seems, the higher the turbidity is.  This will be an ongoing problem if the water supply is switched to the Barrow supply.

The reason that Irish Water intend to make this switch is to "build resilience in the network to ensure enough water is available to meet daily demands".  Whilst we would support general plans to increase supply for everyone, we are highly concerned that the people of Kildare are being switched to an inferior water supply.  More information about Irish Water's plans and an official information statement from them is available at https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1355047814688922&id=165252357001813

We would urge both Irish Water and Kildare County Council to maintain our current high quality water supply from the Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant.  Sign our petition to help raise awareness.