Galway City Council has denied it ignored a report - submitted to it by a waste management firm several months ago - highlighting the risk of cryptosporidium to the water supply and offering a solution to the threat of an outbreak.
Waste disposal company Enva confirmed today it submitted proposals in September to the Council for a water treatment system that would eliminate cryptosporidium from the water supply.
In its submission to the council, the firm also warned of the risk of a cryptosporidium outbreak.
An Enva spokesman told ireland.comthe system it proposed uses ultraviolet rays to clean the parasite out of the water supply and could be implemented without disruption to the water supply as it would be constructed off-site and then linked into the existing water treatment system.
But the council today said the Enva system was only one of a number of proposals it had invited to address the possibility of an outbreak of cryptosporidium.
The council said the proposal alone was not sufficient to provide the level of protection against cryptosporidium as outlined by the EPA in Ireland.
"I am satisfied that the current proposals as agreed between Galway City Council and the EPA will provide the level of protection required. This solution provides for the installation of an ultra filtration system, which is an addition to the treatment as suggested by Enva," said city manager Joe MacGrath.
Enva insisted that the treatment it proposed would treat and remove cryptosporidium from the water supply and had been approved by the World Health Organisation and the Environmental Protection Agency in the US.
