Sewage spill into the River Nore confirmed by Kilkenny Council Council

Concerns have been raised following a spill of sewage into the River Nore in recent days.

Local residents fear that the contamination could damage wildlife on the river and have also raised concerns surrounding people swimming in the river during the recent heatwave.

Engineer with Kilkenny County Council, Seamus Kavanagh confirmed that there was a spill of sewage into the Nore at Maudlin Street.

"It was first noted by the public on Sunday and it was reported to Kilkenny County Council and Irish Water on Monday. The operating crew had independently identified the issue on Monday morning  and had put in place remedial action to clear the blockage prior to the public's reporting of the incident.
"The incident was caused by large balls of coagulated fat mixed with baby wipes in the sewer blocking the outlet from the storm over flow chamber  inlet to the pump station. The sewage backed up in the sewer and discharged to the river via the storm over flow pipe. These  large lumps of fat were removed by suction and jetting of the sewer.  Material built up beside the discharge point was removed by suction tanker and treated in the  treatment plant.
 A similar blockage was removed from the sewer last week.
The incident was reported to both the Inland fisheries Ireland (IFI) and the EPA.  The incident was investigated by KCC environmental department, IFI and EPA.