Source of deadly water bug still a mystery one year on
Eileen Finn Graham, of restaurant Moran's on the Weir, Clarinbridge, Co Galway, filling a jug with water that has been previously boiled
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OFFICIALS have admitted that they will never know what caused the water crisis in Galway last year which left 100,000 people without drinking water and up to 5,000 ill.
However, they said new systems put in place means the city now has the "best treated water in the country".
But despite this, just 11 miles from the city in Clarinbridge, 5,000 residents have been boiling their contaminated tap water for the past five months.
Water in Galway city and county was contaminated last March by the deadly cryptosporidium bug and householders could not drink from their taps for over five months.
Officially 242 people were affected by the cryptosporidium stomach illness since the start of the year, but the true figure is believed to be around 5,000.
Ciaran Hayes, Director of Services with Galway City Council, said the old Terryland treatment plant -- which dealt with 30pc of the city's supply -- was unable to filter out the infectious bug.
He admitted that the water could have been contaminated through a number of sources and the actual source of the massive problem will never be pinned down.
"We known it got in through a number of factors but it was likely infiltration of septic tanks," he told the Irish Independent.
"There was massive flooding in the areas around the Corrib and it reached its second highest recorded level ever."
He explained that the flood water soaked into private septic tanks and when the waters receded, it brought bacteria with it from the tanks.
"The difficulty is knowing which septic tank. We will never be able to put our finger on which one," he said.
The Terryland plant is now closed and while a separate plant caters for 70pc of the city's needs, water is also bought in from Galway County Council to service the city. An application has been lodged to upgrade Terryland with work expected to be started within a few months.
Solution
"We had to put in place a number of short, medium and long term solutions. The short term was to get 30pc from an alternative source and we had to upgrade our works to take in the water and distribute it.
"The medium solution is where we're at now and we're working to upgrade the Terryland plant to treat water."
They have installed a new UltraViolet (UV) system last August which cost €1.5m.
"What we have now is probably the best treated water in the country," he added.
When the Terryland plant is upgraded it will be able to treat 55,000 cubic metres of water every day and will be able to meet the entire water needs of the city.
To date the council does not know the full cost of the water crisis as they are "still waiting on some invoices".
According to research by the Environmental Protection Agency, 339 public water supplies around the country are still at risk of similar contamination.
- Edel Kennedy
