Galway water clean, say local bodies

THE water in Galway is now clean and cryptosporidium-free, according to local authorities.

But they are awaiting clearance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before lifting the boil notice in the city and county.

Representatives from the county and city councils met with the Health Service Executive (HSE) on Tuesday night and said they are “very close” to announcing the water is safe for human consumption.

The council has met all criteria set down by the health authorities for lifting the notice.

These include: securing an alternative water supply, water samples testing negative for the parasite, a reduction in the cases of cryptosporidiosis.

Up to 90,000 people have been affected by the boil notice since it was put in place in March.

A total of 241 of reported cases have been recorded since the outbreak began. Just three cases have been reported in the past month, and one in the past week, which is said to be connected to a previous illness of the patient, and not related to the water supply.

A spokeswoman for Galway City Council said tests have been coming back clear for a number of weeks now, showing no signs of the parasite in the water.

However she said people should not become complacent and must continue to boil water until the HSE advises otherwise.

The spokesperson said 30% of the city’s water supply has been transferred away from the “old Terryland” treatment plant, which had an inferior filtration system. Now 70% of the city’s water comes from the “new Terryland” treatment site and 30% comes from the Luimnagh site outside the city.

It is now up to the HSE to announce a lifting of the boil notice, and it is seeking advice from the EPA on the matter.

A boil notice is also in place on 4,500 homes in Clonmel in Co Tipperary over similar fears of contamination.

Clonmel Borough Council said after numerous samples were taken from the water over the past few days, it now believes sheep droppings combined with heavy rains were the primary source of the contamination.

So far there are no reports that any members of the public have become ill in the area as a result of the contamination. The boil notice is expected to be in place for six weeks.

A survey last month of water-borne outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis in 16 European countries found Ireland had the highest incidence.

The number of cases per head of population in Ireland in 2005 was seven times greater than the European average, according the report in Eurosurveillance, a leading scientific journal on communicable disease.