The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it has made no final decision on prosecuting Galway's local authorities over contaminated drinking water.
Such a move could be taken under the agency's new legislative powers to prosecute councils for inadequate drinking water supplies.
However, the EPA says that the situation will be "evaluated" only after a clean supply of water has been reinstated in full in the city and county.
It has issued seven "directions" under its new legislative powers to other local authorities in relation to clean water. The "directions" constitute warnings which, if ignored, could result in prosecution.
A lifting of the "boil water" notice for some 70,000 residents in Galway city and county is anticipated shortly, as the Health Service Executive (HSE) West says that its tests show levels of the cryptosporidium parasite have returned to "normal" for this time of year.
There have been no new cases of cryptosporidiosis, the gastrointestinal illness caused by the parasite, in several weeks, and the total number of laboratoryconfirmed cases since the beginning of the year stands at 241.
Earlier this week, Fine Gael councillor Pádraig Conneely marked the fifth month of the health alert with a public criticism of senior city officials for being absent, and for failing to keep him informed of the situation. Cllr Conneely drank a glass of tap water supplied by a local hostelry in Eyre Square to demonstrate his point, and says he has had no ill-effects since.
However, Galway City Council has denied any suggestion that the lifting of the public health alert is related to the absence of senior officials, and says that the last written briefing to councillors was on July 20th.
Verbal briefings had been given this week to Cllr Conneely and others by the senior engineer representing Galway City Council, its director of services, Ciarán Hayes, said.
Mr Hayes also said that he was "very disappointed" that a member of the city council - as in Cllr Conneely - would ignore a public health warning by drinking tap water.
Mr Hayes said that the city council had been involved in "intensive negotiations" with the EPA, HSE West and Galway County Council in relation to the health alert.
A target of transferring some 30 per cent of the city's water supply source from the old Terryland waterworks to an alternative drawn from the Luimnagh plant in the north of the city was close to completion. The city council's own monitoring had shown that supplies were clear, and the emphasis now was on ensuring the alternative was sustainable.
A setback at Luimnagh a month ago, which was caused by an electrical component fault, shut down several water pumps and disrupted supplies to the county and the city for 12 hours.
However, county engineers managed to tackle the problem without resorting to use of the old Terryland waterworks, where the cryptosporidium parasite was detected at high levels last March.
Health officials have to be satisfied with tests over two cycles of the parasite (four weeks in total) before it can lift its boil water order.
Until them, up to 70,000 people in Galway city and parts of south Connemara must continue to boil and buy water.
