Race against time to restore city water services

WATER SERVICES in Galway are unlikely to be restored to normal in time for major tourism events taking place in the coming weeks.

The cryptosporidium crisis has forced householders and businesspeople in Galway city to boil all water for human consumption since last March.

However, the decommissioning of the city’s old Terryland treatment plant is still some time away. Engineers have been working flat out to establish a connection with Galway County Council’s Luimnagh water supply, to eliminate the city’s dependence on the Terryland plant, but a June 15 deadline has already been missed.

The city council hopes to have the Luimnagh connection set up in the next week or two. But, even after that, the Health Service Executive (HSE) will insist on a period of some weeks of cryptosporidium-free water before they allow the boil-water notice to be lifted across the city.

With the internationally renowned Galway Arts Festival kicking off on July 16, normal water supplies will not be in place in time, forcing visitors to stick to bottled water.

Meanwhile, it’s a race against time to get the service resumed in time for the Galway Races that start on July 30 and traditionally attract tens of thousands to the area for the week-long festival.

“We may make that yet, because you still have a full solid four weeks in July before the races start,” said a city council spokesperson yesterday. “It’s very difficult to make a call. We’re still hopeful, but the next couple of weeks will be crucial and will tell us more.”

Earlier this year, hoteliers and publicans were reporting losses in business of up to 20% because of the water crisis, with boiled or bottled water having to be employed for many everyday uses such as drinking, cooking and brushing teeth.

Up to 90,000 people have been affected by the boil notice since March, with the number of confirmed cases of the cryptosporidiosis sickness numbering up to 240 since the outbreak began.

Ensuring a safe supply of water means bringing in 72,000 cubic litres a day from a source other than the Terryland plant.

Short-term, that means assistance from the county council via the Luimnagh supply, while in the medium-term the city council hopes to develop “package treatment” plants which will allow it to have its own clean supply.