MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has approved more than €3 million to expedite a replacement for Roundstone's contaminated water supply in Connemara. However, it is expected that residents in both Roundstone and the surrounding areas of Inishnee and Errisbeag will have to boil water until next year, when the new supply system will finally be in place.
The Connemara community has been the subject of a boil water notice since early this month, when traces of the cryptosporidium parasite were confirmed in the public water supply.
The parasite causes the serious gastrointestinal illness, cryptosporidiosis, which affected Galway city and parts of the county during a five-month alert last year. A small number of cases among over 2,000 people who became ill in Galway last year still have "continuing complications".
To date, the HSE has received no reports of serious illness in Roundstone, which has a population of over 300.
The population can swell to more than 5,000 during the tourist season, and hoteliers have expressed concern about the impact of the alert.
Mr Gormley's funding approval allows Galway Co Council to draw in a new water supply from the Carna/Kilkieran treatment plant, which has just been upgraded.
Mr Gormley says that the work will involve over 10km of new trunk main, construction of a 400 cubic metre reservoir and some upgrading of the existing distribution network.
The funding, which was part of an original spending plan for 2007-2009, has been fast-tracked under a system which allows local authorities to authorise advance works to contract stage on schemes valued at under €5 million.
"This will ensure that the new water supply comes on stream as quickly as possible and that the boil water notice will not remain in place any longer than absolutely necessary," Mr Gormley said.
