A month after the lifting of Galway's "boil water" alert, E.coli contamination has been discovered in the water supply to the city's largest suburb, writes Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent
A precautionary boil water notice was issued last night by Galway City Council for the Knocknacarra suburb, which has a population of between 15,000 and 20,000 people.
It is understood the sample was discovered during random testing earlier this week, and showed a very high level for E.coli. The Health Service Executive (HSE) West was notified by e-mail late on Wednesday evening and so health officials only became aware of the problem yesterday morning .
No one has, as yet, reported illness due to the contamination, according to the local authority, and the system has been flushed through and additional chlorination has been applied.
Samples taken after the flushing have been clear, but three clear samples are required before the boil water notice can be lifted.
The measures apply to an area within city boundaries south of the Western Distributor Road to Barna Road and Kingston Road; north to the Rahoon Road; west to the Cappagh Road; and east to the Bishop O'Donnell Road.
The local authority has emphasised that the contamination is not related to the cryptosporidium "problem" which resulted in a boil water notice being extended to 90,000 people in Galway city and county for a five-month period.
Galway City Council director of services Ciaran Hayes said last night that work carried out on the water line in the Knocknacarra area may have caused the problem. He said he expected that the boil water notice would be "short-term".
However, local councillors have reacted angrily to the development.
Fine Gael councillor Padraig Conneely described it as "astounding" and "not acceptable".
He questioned why vital precautions were not taken to ensure contamination of water didn't occur while drainage work was being undertaken in Knocknacarra.
Green Party councillor Niall Ó Brolcháin called on party colleague Minister for the Environment John Gormley to intervene and ensure a 12-point plan agreed during the cryptosporidium outbreak was implemented.
The council said it was in a position to deal with inquiries about the matter on 091-536400. However, this number is only available from 9am to 5pm and was on voicemail last night.