People will not feel confident about drinking tap water again unless the Galway City Council carries out more tests, and people should be told in writing by City Hall when it is safe to drink again.
This is the view of Labour Cllr Colette Connolly who is calling on the council to write to all householders whose water was tested and retested for lead levels to let them know the results.
Cllr Connolly said it is important that such information is given in writing and not verbally, particularly where the lead exceedance has dropped below the recommended level of 25. She said in this case the householder must be informed that in the opinion of the HSE and the council it is safe to drink the water.
“Without this guarantee it is impossible for individual householders to be reassured and recommence using the water,” she said. “In my own case, where the lead reading was initially in excess of 160, I received no indication from anyone that it was safe to drink the water other than the retest is now below the permitted level of 25.”
She has also called on City Hall officials to produce a report with the number of households tested and retested, giving the dates and results so that the information is comparative.
“It is only then that councillors can assess whether progress is being made,” she said.
Cllr Connolly made her call at Monday’s city council meeting, following an update on lead contamination in the public water supply for Old Mervue.
Cllr Connolly was critical of the three Fianna Fáil councillors and Green Cllr Niall Ó Brolcháin for not backing her second motion calling on City Hall to increase the level of testing for lead contamination across the city.
“It is unacceptable that certain houses in Shantalla with extremely high lead exceedance in excess of 300 were retested last October but not since then,” she said. “Houses with very high lead exceedance must be prioritised for retesting on a regular basis to monitor the extent of the problem.”
