Today as residents from Mervue are forced to make do with water distributed from tankers the council has admitted it could be two years or more before the end of Galway’s latest water crisis.
Speaking to Galway First last night Director of Services Ciarán Hayes outlined the council’s plans to solve the problem and confessed replacing the lead pipe distribution network in Old Mervue could take up to two years.
In total approximately 3km of lead piping would have to be replaced in Mervue and, assuming the council receives immediate approval for its design and implementation at each step along the way, Mr Hayes estimated the project could take from 18 months to two years.
He said, “We have already applied to the Department of Environment for a programme of mains rehabilitation. And what we’re doing now is seeking to prioritise Old Mervue.”
Old Mervue is the area of most concern as in other affected area the council say the water is only running through very short lead service pipes to reach people’s homes.
And Mr Hayes added, “In areas such as Bohermore, Claddagh and Shantalla it is not a case that every pipe would have to be replaced. A lot of the old lead pipes may have already been replaced if, say, a homeowner renovated a house. These areas have to be looked at in a house by house basis.”
Meanwhile over the weekend it emerged that one of the taps set up in Mervue to provide emergency water to residents in high lead zones has also itself become contaminated.
The tap was initially tested when erected last Wednesday and found to be suitable for consumption. However on Friday new tests showed a lead reading four times above the safe amount. The results of a second test are to be known today.
Two tankers - offering an alternative water supply - are now present, one at the Mervue Shopping Centre and another at Clarke Avenue. However according to local councillor Terry O’Flaherty people have lost confidence in the council’s supply and are very reluctant to even use this water.
She said, “I was present at 6.30pm on Saturday and barely any water had been taken out of the tanker at Clarke Avenue. The word on the ground is that people don’t trust the water.”
The city mayor Padraig Conneely claimed last night that the city is in a “crisis situation” and called on the Minister for Environment John Gormley to step in and solve the problem.
“I want the Minister to meet with us and reassure the people of Galway that everything is being done to solve the problem.”
He also voiced concern that Galway’s tourism trade could be hit hard by this latest water problem.
“I was talking to a hotelier over the weekend and he told me that four people who booked into his hotel insisted on water for their rooms, and said that if they didn’t get it they wouldn’t be staying. This is going to happen everywhere now. The people just don’t have confidence in the officials to manage this problem.”
The council has already outlined its solutions to the problems. In the short term it plans to adjust the acidity of the water to reduce the interaction of the water and lead pipes which causes contamination. It also plans to continue testing of the water, and in the long term to replace the lead pipe network in Old Mervue.
Meanwhile the latest Galway water crisis could be heading nationwide as residents in Beecher Street in Mallow, Co Cork have now been told that three times the safe amount of lead was detected in their tap water.
