RESIDENTS AND business owners in Waterville, Co Kerry have begun an online petition seeking clean water and a proper sewage treatment system for the town.
Lucy Hunt, a local businesswoman, said that businesses were also planning to withhold summer water rates from Kerry County Council.
“Even boiled, it has sediment. It is a case of water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink,” Bob O’Mahony of the Sheilin restaurant complained.
Waterville’s population triples to 3,000 in the summer and development has stalled because of the lack of treatment plants, residents claim.
Last weekend, after the discovery of E.coli, a boil water notice was imposed on the town, just as the All-Ireland coastal rowing championship was getting under way. Restaurants, bars and BBs in Waterville were put under pressure as they had to start boiling water and had to find new supplies of ice during the busiest weekend of the year, Ms Hunt said.
The coastal town is renowned for its scenery, angling and golf course. Waterville is associated with the late actor Charlie Chaplin and more recently with Tiger Woods.
There is no problem with the source of the water, but the lack of proper treatment has long worried people, locals claim.
Waterville is one of eight coastal towns in Kerry that has no proper sewage treatment system. It failed to reach EU standards in 2006 and 2007, according to a recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency, Urban Waste Water Discharges in Ireland.
Smells from the sewage, which is discharged with only the most basic treatment into the bay, is an ongoing problem.
In 2007, after a public campaign led by local doctors, Kerry County Council signed an €8.7 million contract for the installation of 22km of water mains for sewerage and water supply.
It was the first time in this country that a full water supply scheme and sewerage scheme had been combined in one project, and it was also the largest water services contract that the council had ever signed.
A new wastewater treatment plant and a new water treatment plant were to follow under a separate project, with the money coming in part from the National Development plan.
However, while the pipelaying has taken place, no treatment plants have been built.
The council says it is waiting the go-ahead from the Department of the Environment.
However, Mr O’Mahony said that water quality has been an issue for the past 20 years.
Local residents believe the town is not a priority because it has no local councillor on the council. The nearest representatives are in Cahersiveen.