Elderly residents in Old Mervue must be provided with free bottled water instead of having to haul buckets of water from the street to their homes according to Fine Gael Cllr Brian Walsh.
On Tuesday evening, the Galway City Council held an emergency meeting in City Hall to inform councillors that high levels of lead were discovered in drinking water in some houses in Old Mervue.
Testing identified “very high levels of lead” in the houses examined in the area resulting in City Hall and the HSE issuing a warning to residents not to drink the water until further notice.
The problem is believed to stem from the fact that, while the majority of pipes are modern steel structures, once the clean water from the city water treatment works hits Old Mervue, it enters into a lead piping network that dates back to at least the 1930s.
The lead levels discovered caused alarm in City Hall and concerns for public health, leading to this week’s emergency meeting. As a result City Hall and the HSE have issued guidelines to the public on what to do.
For the Old Mervue area this means tap water is not to be consumed or used to prepare food. To provide locals with water City Hall is providing water through stand pipes. This will require people going to the specially set up taps and collecting the water in containers for use. People are then asked to boil this water before use.
However Fine Gael Cllr Brian Walsh said this is not a sufficient response to the problem as it will make a difficult situation harder for the already affected locals.
“Many people in Old Mervue are elderly and they will find it very difficult to haul buckets of water back and forth to their house,” he told the Galway Advertiser. “There is a great community spirit in the area but having to carry the water is still a real physical hardship on the elderly.
“During the cryptosporidium crisis we had the buy one get one free on bottled water so we should do something similar here. Free bottled water should be given out to elderly residents in Old Mervue. I don’t care how we fund it, we need to do it.”
His party colleague Sen Fidelma Healy Eames has also called for “free bottled water to be delivered immediately to homes in the areas at risk of contamination”.
Cllr Walsh also alleged that the HSE was aware there was a problem in July and City Hall became aware two weeks ago.
“People should have been advised earlier,” said Cllr Walsh, “instead they have been drinking the water!”
However Fianna Fáil Cllr John Connolly pointed out that the sample taken in July led to a series of tests being carried out throughout the city which resulted in the discovery of the problem. Nonetheless, Cllr Connolly, like Cllr Walsh remains highly concerned that the problem may be in other parts of the city and not just Old Mervue.
The Galway City Council said the water leaving the Terryland and Luimnagh treatment plants is of “the highest quality” and does not go through any lead pipes. They will contact households in the affected area and further scientific tests will be conducted.
The council is also looking at implementing measures to neutralise acidity in the water within the next four to six weeks and is examining the replacement of lead piping.
