Drinking water ‘was not tested enough’ prior to Crypto outbreak

Date Published: 07-Jul-2009

TESTING of the public drinking water supply in Galway City before the Cryptosporidium outbreak two years ago failed to meet the required standards laid down by the Environmental Protection Agency, it was revealed last night.
And it was the vigilance of a public health doctor, rather than tests by the City Council, that first raised the alarm about the danger to public health, a report by Nuacht TG4, based on documents sought under the Freedom of Information Act, said.
The outbreak of bacteria in the water supply damaged the city’s reputation as a tourist destination and forced 72,000 city dwellers and businesses to boil water and use bottled water for five months.
Correspondence between senior engineers employed by Galway City Council subsequent to the discovery of Cryptosporidium in the water supply reveal that raw water from the Corrib should have been tested once a week and that treated water should have been tested on a daily basis. This was
especially important as the Corrib supply was categorised as ‘high risk’.
But this was not being done by the Council and the water was only tested once a month.
When the problem was first discovered, Senior Executive Engineer, Matt Cremin, asked his colleague, Mark Convey, in correspondence: “Prior to 13 March 2007, did our sampling regime, ie, one sample per month, comply with requirements?”