THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency (EPA) has “closed the file” in relation to lead contamination of Galway city water supplies 17 months ago.
Galway City Council has welcomed the development, and says it is now self-sufficient in “high quality water” for residents.
It attributes this to management measures taken in response to the cryptosporidium contamination of 2007, and the lead-piping issue the following year.
Some 261 houses in the old Mervue area of the city required new piping after lead levels were detected in the suburb in August 2008. The Shantalla, Bohermore and the Claddagh areas of the city, where lead piping was used in many properties built before 1970, were also affected.
Blood tests carried out on 35 residents living in 12 houses which showed up elevated lead levels proved clear in all cases.
The Department of the Environment approved the cost of replacing the lead pipe network, which came to €380,000. The city council worked with residents associations on piping beyond stopcocks, which was the responsibility of individual householders, and all but six houses have been addressed, it says.
Galway City Council director of services Ciaran Hayes said even if the EU reduced lead limits further in 2013, as planned, the city would still be compliant.
At the time of the lead alert, the EPA confirmed that Galway City Council had been advised of the difficulties with its outdated pipe network in 2004.
The EPA said that some “99 per cent” of samples taken in 944 public water supplies in the State were “compliant” with the current lead standard of a maximum of 25 micrograms per litre.