Annual Report 2010 Publisher full - Offaly County Council

Water Services
In 2010, electricity supply to all of our treatment plants was
transferred to another supplier following a Regional Energy Supply
Tender in 2009, saving almost 20% in electricity costs.
Introduction
The delivery of Water Services throughout the county continues to
expand against a background of increasing statutory responsibility
and customer expectation of 24hr/365 day service.
The level of service expectation from our customers, continues to put
pressure on Water Services costs and resources. There were no boil
water notices or significant water quality issues in 2010. The
unprecedented cold spells in January and December caused
interruptions to supply due to individual frozen services and caused
short term increases in unaccounted for water. The operational cost
of water services was carried out within budget in 2010.
Financial Management
The cost of operating our water and wastewater treatment plants
and networks was within the allocated budget of €12.3m for 2010.
The Water Services budget had increased substantially over the last
6 years due to:
• The development of new or upgraded Sewage Treatment
Plants, where previously a lower standard of treatment existed.
• Disposal of water treatment and wastewater treatment
sludges. This continues to be major cost because of transport
and strenuous environmental regulation of disposal options.
• The expanded role of the Local Authority as a Regulatory
Authority for Group Schemes and Small Private supplies under
the new Drinking Water Regulations.
• The licensing process for waste water discharges introduced
under the Waste Water Discharge (Authorisation) Regulations
2007.
• The large development in the group scheme area where
connected to Council supply.
Clara Water Treatment Plant
Water Treatment
In 2010, the implementation of recently enacted Water Services
legislation continued and placed a very considerable demand on
resources. The Regulatory requirements for Drinking Water Quality
and Wastewater Discharges are enforced by the Environmental
Protection Agency. The EPA were given increased staff resources in
2009 to enable them to enforce the 2007 Drinking Water Regulations
and the Waste Water Discharge (Authorisation) Regulations 2007,
while Local Authority staff numbers decreased. Notwithstanding this,
Water and wastewater quality in Offaly continues to be above the
National Average.
S.I. 278 of 2007- European Communities (Drinking Water)
(No. 2) Regulations 2007
These regulations, among other things, require that:
I. The EPA Audit at least one Water Supply Scheme in each LA
Annually.
II. The LA provide an immediate Response and corrective action
programme to the EPA in the event of any non-compliance
Page 48 | Offaly County Council Annual Report 2010