Dr. Michelle Minihan:

In Ballymore Eustace the response was as soon as the alarm was activated. The alarm was activated at 8.30 p.m. on 20 August. The shift operator responded to the alarm and manually switched over to the standby dosing pump but that subsequently airlocked. He made the call to get the appropriate fitter on-site to attend it. The fitter attended on-site. It took a number of hours to fix. Normal dosing levels were restored by approximately midnight on 21 August. That part of the response worked. What did not work was that it was not understood or comprehended that there was a corresponding increase in torpidities across the filters because of the almost 4.5-hour period where the alum dosing was not at its optimum level. That had a knock-on effect on the filters, which caused the cryptosporidium treatment barrier to be compromised and also resulted in inadequate disinfections. That awareness and appreciation of the significance of what happened was not there in Ballymore Eustace on the night of 20-21 August. Irish Water became aware of it the day before it contacted us. It contacted us on 1 September. It was investigating an exceedance on the sludge waste treatment plant that supports Ballymore Eustace and examined how the front end of the treatment process was working. This came to light to them on 30 August. It went to investigate it at the plant and phoned the EPA on the morning of 1 September and that is how it came to light for them.