A public water tap will not be available in Monksland for those affected by the ‘boil water’ notice, Roscommon County Council has confirmed.
Contrary to reports earlier in the week that a water tap is to be installed at Roscommon County Council’s offices in Monksland, a spokesperson for Roscommon County Council confirmed yesterday that there were no such plans.
“There is no standpipe in Monksland, and there are no plans to install one. Even if there was a standpipe, the ‘boil water’ notice would still have to be in place, as the containers people use could be contaminated,” said the spokesperson.
Earlier this week, Fine Gael councillor Ollie Moore said he had received assurances that the tap was to be installed by the end of this week.
A ‘boil water’ notice remains in effect on the South Roscommon (Killeglan ) water supply, as well as the Boyle Ardcarne and Castlerea Regional supplies. The notice has been in place for over a month now, since October 24.
The notice was issued after several cases of cryptosporidium were confirmed, with results from the testing of water samples identifying the animal-related ‘parvum’ type of cryptosporidium.
On the advice of the HSE, Roscommon County Council is advising householders supplied by the Killeglan, Boyle Ardcarne, and Castlerea schemes to continue to boil water in order to ensure it is free of cryptosporidium and other infections.
Since the notice was issued, the council has announced that construction is to start on a new water treatment plant for south Rosommon which will include barriers to cryptosporidium.
