The EPA has ordered Irish Water to stop discharging sludge into the River Blackwater from the waste water treatment plant in Mallow.
EPA inspectors had found "highly coloured" water being discharged into the Blackwater from the sludge-holding tank at the Mallow plant.
The Irish Examiner reports that the EPA told Irish Water to implement an action plan to improve the sludge-handling facilities at the Mallow plant.
They've also been urged to liaise with Inland Fisheries Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to ensure any discharge was not having a negative impact on the River Blackwater.
Irish Water and Cork County Council notified the EPA that interim remedial works were planned to include the desludging of the sludge-holding tank as well as measures to increase solid retention in the tank.
