Loughrea faces two months of boiling water

Loughrea residents face the hardship of boiling their tap water for up to two months after Irish Water admitted the treatment plant is not equipped to remove the potentially lethal bug cryptosporidium.

A week after the health warning was given, the utility has announced that the best option is to install UV treatment equipment at the old plant – which will take three to four weeks to install.

After that, extensive testing over a number of weeks will be required to ensure it is meeting water safety standards for the 8,500 people living in the catchment area.

Until then the boil water notice remains in place, placing a financial burden on families who buy bottled water instead of the boiling it due to taste, safety and convenience reasons. People have been urged not to drink the water, make ice, brush their teeth or prepare food from the tap and instead boil all water.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said she and her two boys have switched to bottled water after the three of them had constant stomach cramps after drinking boiled water.

“There’s a metallic taste to the boiled water. I’d have two half cups of coffee in the morning and my stomach was constantly upset. I stopped it and then I was fine. I went back and the pains started again. The children were saying they had pains in their tummies so I’m only using bottle water now,” she explained.

“Everyone else is buying water so when you go to the shop you might have to buy the most expensive one as the cheaper ones are sold out. It all adds up.”

Irish Water refused to put somebody forward for interview. In a statement, a spokesperson said the treatment plants producing drinking water for this area are not sufficiently equipped to produce drinking water that meets the current water quality standards.

“In particular, the plants are vulnerable to pollution incidents in the catchment and the consequences of recent very wet weather has increased this risk considerably. This has led to cryptosporidium contamination in the drinking water produced at the plant,” stated Asset Programmes Manager Sean Laffey.

The current option being investigated is the installation of UV treatment equipment at the old plant.

“Normally UV treatment systems could take up to a year to procure, install and fully test. In the case of the Loughrea, a solution may be possible within a number of weeks due to the availability of UV treatment equipment that was decommissioned by Irish Water from another plant elsewhere in the country.

“We are hopeful that we will now be able to get this installed within three to four weeks after which further water quality tests will be required on the Loughrea supply to satisfy the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that water can be produced to the high standard required.

“Lifting the boil water notice could therefore take a number of additional weeks after the equipment is installed.”

A long term solution to address the water quality in Loughrea is currently at the planning stage and will take between two and three years to complete.

This will involve the construction of a new pipeline to bring water from a modern treatment plant at Tuam to the Loughrea area.

The boil notice applies to all properties serviced by the Loughrea Public Water Supply including the Craughwell area and the following group water schemes: Earlspark, Masonbrook, Newtowndaly, Loughrea Rural, Killeenadeema,Carrowmore/Clostoken & Caherlaven, Caherdine, Ballymanna, Carrigean.