Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore has arranged an urgent meeting with Irish Water to discuss the ongoing issue of a bad taste and smell from tap water across north Wicklow.

he issue has been widely-reported across the past two weeks, with Irish Water saying that specialist results revealed that a non-harmful substance called methylisoborneol (MIB) is present and can lead to people detecting an earthy and musty smell and taste from the drinking water.  it’s not harmful to human health.

MIB is a naturally occurring organic substance produced by algae found in lakes, rivers, streams and reservoirs and it can be smelled at very low concentrations.

Seasonal increases in naturally occurring algae or bacteria in water sources can cause a rise in MIB above the taste and odour threshold for some people, Irish Water said, adding that there is no way to predict the onset of an incidence of MIB, or how long it will last. However, it’s thought rain and cooling weather could resolve the issue.

At October’s meeting of Bray Municipal District Council, Cllr Rory O’Connor, in describing the water’s taste, said: “I wouldn’t give it to my dog!”

Though Deputy Whitmore says she has seen the water improve this week, she remains unsatisfied with Irish Water’s response.

“The water has been gradually improving which I welcome, but people were still unclear as to how long the taste would stay in the water and why it was lingering,” she said. “Furthermore, I had reports of people filtering out a large amount of black residue from their tap water which was not a comforting site to many.

“I asked a range of questions in relation to the filtration system, the water quality reports, looking in detail at how they carry out testing of water quality and what they do in the event of there being large amounts of algae growth.

“I did ask whether Irish Water could prevent this from happening again but unfortunately, it’s not as straight forward as we imagine. With the onset of colder temperatures, this will kill off any lingering algae with water taste returning to normal

“What is interesting however, is how subjective the taste and odour is for people. Residents from the same home will have completely different reactions with some not smelling or tasting anything at all while others have very strong reactions to the water.”

The Deputy promised to keep a close watch on the issue going forward.

  

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Originally Appeared Here