The council have said that the boil water notice in the areas of Rathcormac, Castlelyons, Bridesbridge and Kildinan issued last week, proves that the detection system works and was purely precautionary.

Councillors were told at a meeting in Mallow last week that the notice was in place for two days from Wednesday until Friday, as there were low levels of chlorine, but the samples showed that the water was not contaminated.

Due to the heavy rainfall the ammonia levels were higher, due to run-off from land.

The council staff said that they wanted to ‘be sure rather than sorry’ and so they kept the boil water notice in place while they met with the HSE and monitored the water.

The manager commented that this should be a comfort to householders, as it proves that when something is indicated, a plan kicks in and actions are taken.

Cllr Frank O’Flynn added that the situation proves that the system really does work.