This felling licence resulted in Leitrim Co Co serving a Section 12 Water Pollution Notice on Coillte.
Section 12 Notices
Under Section 12 of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts, 1977 & 1990, the Local Authority may serve a notice in writing on any person having custody or control of polluting matter. This notice specifies measures to be taken by the person in order to prevent or control the pollution of the water concerned.
Furthermore a person who does not comply with the terms of a Section 12 Notice shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to prosecution by the Local Authority.
Notes on test results
There is limited value in one off tests, as you cannot tell what the situation was beforehand for particular parameters
Who selects the test parameters and why are particular parameters tested? This looks like a good suite of parameters
The presence of E. coli in a drinking water sample usually indicates recent fecal contamination. Boil notices are issued for E. coli
Coliforms should be zero
pH is fine, but what was it before?
Hardness is linked to geology, would expect limestone in Leitrim tests
Colour should be zero in drinking water, so drinking water is cloudy
Conductivity looks elevated, but cannot say for sure as normal conductivity is unknown. Conductivity is a good indicator, but requires regular testing to establish baseline
Lead. Limits for lead in drinking water are very low (eg compared with copper). You would not expect lead unless from lead pipes
Ammonia levels suggest recent organic pollution
Manganese is naturally occuring, but when high causes staining. New scientific studies show that high manganese levels in drinking water may have a harmful effect on the nervous system and brain development. Therefore, it is advised that you should not drink water with manganese levels above 120 µg/l
Analytical techniques
Colorimetry
Colorimetry is the use of coloured compounds to determine the concentration of a target chemical compound. It is one of the earliest and most reliable forms of water analysis and is used to test for a wide array of analytes
ICPMS
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is an analytical technique that can be used to measure elements at trace levels
Gravimetry
Gravimetric analysis is any procedure in which the masses of substances are measured in order to determine the composition of a sample
Acc. : Accredited Parameters by ISO/IEC 17025:2017
ISO/IEC 17025:2017 specifies the general requirements for the competence, impartiality and consistent operation of laboratories.
PVL – Parametric Value Limit as per EU (Drinking water) Regulations (SI 122 2014)
