Glad I didn’t drink it...

[alexmcred]

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The Sewage Treatment Plant in Oughterard, Co Galway, has been identified by an RTÉ investigation as a source of the Cryptosporidium outbreak on Lough Corrib.


Residents of Galway city and county have been living with a boil order on their water for three weeks while engineers work to provide an alternative supply.


Testing conducted by the RTÉ Radio Investigative Unit on the waters in Lough Corrib show how the Oughterard plant is a continuing source of the Cryptosporidium infection.
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Independent laboratory analysis has proven that emissions from the town's 60-year-old sewage plant are eight times in excess of permissible levels.


Cryptosporidium levels in the waters around the treatment plant are 60 times in excess of internationally accepted minimums.


Galway County Council representatives have expressed surprise at these findings and maintain that the plants outfall is treated to acceptable standards, but acknowledge the plants needs upgrading.


Meanwhile the RTÉ Radio Investigative Unit has learned that Galway County Council officials had told members of the public that the plant's emissions strictly complied with EPA limits.


However, this evening the Council's Director of Services accepted that this was incorrect and in fact the plant had failed half of the tests conducted over the last five years.
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Galway must be run by the greatest shower of muppets on earth.


Earlier on today the famous Councillor, affectionately known as "Stroke" decides a hospital bed is preferable to a prison break for ripping off the funds. Is still hailed a hero by the local electorate.


Then this water thing....they had some €25 million allocated by Central Gov't. four years ago and probably spent that on the redecorating job in Fallujah (Eyre)Square before thinking about modernising the Waterworks.


The development of Galway is ribbon gone mad, probably so that people will think "wow, what a big city" when travelling to Connemarawith every building of notestrung out on one road. Whoever handles the planningthere could have inventedbungalow blight. Get to the Centre and it's impossibly congested because no-one thought about putting an actual City centre to replace the market town.


Great place for the craic, etc.but deserves a proper Planning Department and fewer Stroke politicians......Ireland in microcosm almost.[img]smileys/shock.gif[/img]

[ECSquared]

My aunt is a teacher in Oughtard and half the school have been out with projectile vomiting and all that goes with it since just after Christmas, the "150 or so" cases is a gross underestimation.

[daveirl]

My aunt is a teacher in Oughtard and half the school have been out with projectile vomiting and all that goes with it since just after Christmas, the "150 or so" cases is a gross underestimation.

The 150 is confirmed lab tested cases according to a fella on the radio this morning. I've seen some commentators say you can add somewhere between 1 and 2 extra zeroes to that total to get all the people affected in some way!

[lahinch_lass]

what sort of fupping idiot puts a sewage treatment outfall anywhere near a public water supply ???? No matter how well it's treated !


That has to be the most stupid piece of planning I have ever heard!


I've been sticking to bottled water since I moved into my house in Ennis, initially because it was a new house &amp; I thought the pipes needed a while to clear out, and then because of the cryptosporidium in the ennis supply, followed a few months later by the e coli !


It's hard to realise the impact an unsafe water supply has until you are inflicted with someting like a boil notice - no washing fruit/veg, have to use boiling temp water for washing dishes, can't brush your teeth using regular tap water .. 'tis a major inconvience, and definitely increases your cost of living. the minute some clown comes looking for water rates off me they are liable to leave at high speed with their ears on fire !


I know my grandparents house used not be on the regular mains supply and we couldn't use their tap water untreated at their house when we visited(it came form an untreated source), We even went with them to collect water from the local well quite a few times.


I have huge sympathy for the people in countries without piped water supplies, let alone sanitised piped water.

[alexmcred]

The reason I posted this this is because how in gods name did they manage to cover up the results.


If it had been a company that had done this they would be shut down and fined heavily. I worked for a food company for years and e coli was always pointed out as a potential killerfor the old and young.I unfortunately can see no ones head rolling for this or else some lackey will be held responsible.


At the end of the day the majority of us have to depend on our local councils for our water. How many more are fudging or blatantly lying about water tests.


From my view point this is a massive breach of trust and the culprits should be found and dealt with severely and every other council should have to be more transparent in how water tests are conducted and how the public are made aware of any dangers.

[JoeyFantastic]

Alex, honestly, what makes you expect that anyone in any walk of
public service is accountable for their incompetance?

Agree on the way Galway has been mis-developed, but too late to stop
it now.

[An Fear Bolg]

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Testing conducted by the RTÉ Radio Investigative Unit on the waters in Lough Corrib show how the Oughterard plant is a continuing source of the Cryptosporidium infection.
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Independent laboratory analysis has proven that emissions from the town's 60-year-old sewage plant are eight times in excess of permissible levels. </RTE:></DIV></RTE:></DIV>

I love RTE claiming the credit for finding the source and then mentioning, in passing, that it was "independent laboratory analysis".

[mike11]

what sort of fupping idiot puts a sewage treatment outfall anywhere -Oughterard is 20 miles from Terryland (but then Corofin is 8 from Ennis....)near a public water supply ???? No matter how well it's treated !


That has to be the most stupid piece of planning I have ever heard! No planning regulations were broken (shows how bad our guidelines are); do you know who is responsible for implementing water safety measures and anti-pollution laws? see note 1.


I've been sticking to bottled water since I moved into my house in Ennis, initially because it was a new house &amp; I thought the pipes needed a while to clear out, and then because of the cryptosporidium in the ennis supply, followed a few months later by the e coli !


It's hard to realise the impact an unsafe water supply has until you are inflicted with someting like a boil notice - no washing fruit/veg, have to use boiling temp water for washing dishes, can't brush your teeth using regular tap water .. 'tis a major inconvience, and definitely increases your cost of living. the minute some clown comes looking for water rates off me they are liable to leave at high speed with their ears on fire !


I know my grandparents house used not be on the regular mains supply and we couldn't use their tap water untreated at their house when we visited(it came form an untreated source), We even went with them to collect water from the local well quite a few times. Over 80% of wells in this country were lost to either pollution or destruction (by developers or farmers)over the past 20 years.


I have huge sympathy for the people in countries without piped water supplies, let alone sanitised piped water.

LL, this is not new. There has been a campaign on-going since the late 70s to highlight the deteriorating water quality in what are known as the great western lakes (of which Corrib is one). It was environment and fishery led. The main sources of pollution were identified as agriculture, faulty domestic sewage treatment and inadequete (and outdated) council sewage plants.


About 10 years ago it was decided that a more radical approach was needed and a limited company was setup - Carra Mask Corrib Water Protection Group Ltd (yes, a limited company...!). It's aims were to try and force authorities (by whetever legal means) to safeguard our natural resources for future generations. The regional fishery board came on-board from early as did tourism, schools and more recently farming and local councils. They have also taken the government to court (both here and in Europe) to try and force them to perform their legal obligations regarding pollution. See this website http://www.cmcwpg.ie/for some background &amp; detail (it's from before this latest crypto problem).


I personally know a few of these guys and have performed a small amount of work for them.


They have had meetings with various agencies (EPA, Councils, Research groups, etc), and have visited government depts and met with Ministers more than once (O'Cuiv and Michael D were instrumental in arranging this). However, in the last meeting (late last year) Roche rubbished them, their work and basically said they were a bunch of eco nutters and there was no threat whatsoever to either wildlife or humans, and that they were crying wolf about water quality issues. He went as far as to say that region had some of the best water in the world! One of the delegation later regretted not having a container of the water taken from the outflow of either the Headford or Oughterard treatment plant with him at the time (h

[mike11]

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Testing conducted by the RTÉ Radio Investigative Unit on the waters in Lough Corrib show how the Oughterard plant is a continuing source of the Cryptosporidium infection.
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Independent laboratory analysis has proven that emissions from the town's 60-year-old sewage plant are eight times in excess of permissible levels. </RTE:></DIV></RTE:></DIV>

I love RTE claiming the credit for finding the source and then mentioning, in passing, that it was "independent laboratory analysis". So you like to try to ridicule RTE when they are doing a good job (as they do in certain areas).

RTE were invited down by a local group (CMCWPG represented by John Gibbons); they got the water sampled by an independent lab. They claimed nothing that they couldn't back up, i.e. they just reported the facts.


Please get your facts right before posting.

[thisyear?]

had the same thing in North Wales last year when was 'posted' there...

lasted two and a half months - cost a fortune in boiling water and bottled water

we were compensated by a £20 rebate on our bills - a complete piss take....

[McCloud]

Water offer: buy a bottle, second is free


Galway city council unveils new scheme


A NEW cut-price bottled water scheme to help thousands of Galway householders beat the ongoing contamination crisis was unveiled last night.


Residents are to be offered bottled water at reduced prices in a move by Galway City Council.


About 90,000 people in Galway city and county had to boil and buy water in recent weeks because of contamination by the cryptosporidiosis parasite.


With the alert still in place, the city council decided last night to fund a scheme which will allow a local bottled water company and supermarkets to offer customers one bottle of water free with every one purchased.


Vouchers


The council has also asked the Department of Social and Family Affairs to begin a water-voucher scheme to cater for social welfare recipients.


Despite the latest move, Galway city mayor Niall O Brolchain said he was not happy with the situation and the scheme did not go far enough.


The source of the contamination has still not been found, weeks after the outbreak first occurred.


So far, 180 cases of the parasite infection have been confirmed in Galway city and county, but the rate of reported infections has slackened to one per day. However, as the search for the source of the contamination continues, there is still no immediate prospect of the water boiling directive being withdrawn.


The continuing scare about the contaminated supply has led to growing fears for the local tourist industry, with hoteliers expressing concern that their businesses could be hit.


Meanwhile, a staff embargo initiated by the Department of the Environment was being blamed last night for Galway's water-contamination woes.


Averted


Sean O Driscoll, a rural housing co-ordinator for the Western Isles Housing Agency, and two other councillors claim that the painful effects of cryptosporidium could have been easily averted if proper measures had been in place.


"The embargo on staff drained the city council and local authorities of experienced staff," said independent councillor Catherine Connolly.


A spokesperson for the Department of the Finance said that the number of staff allocated was due to a cap on public servants initiated in the 2003 Budget.


In an attempt to contain the public service bill, local authorities were urged to move staff around rather than obtaining new staff.


Fergus Black

[ECSquared]

Drill your own well, tis the only way. Clean sparkling water from 80 foot down in the ground.

[An Fear Bolg]

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Testing conducted by the RTÉ Radio Investigative Unit on the waters in Lough Corrib show how the Oughterard plant is a continuing source of the Cryptosporidium infection.
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<DIV ="storyIslandTitle">Advertisement</DIV></DIV>


Independent laboratory analysis has proven that emissions from the town's 60-year-old sewage plant are eight times in excess of permissible levels. </RTE:></DIV></RTE:></DIV>

I love RTE claiming the credit for finding the source and then mentioning, in passing, that it was "independent laboratory analysis". So you like to try to ridicule RTE when they are doing a good job (as they do in certain areas).

RTE were invited down by a local group (CMCWPG represented by John Gibbons); they got the water sampled by an independent lab. They claimed nothing that they couldn't back up, i.e. they just reported the facts.


Please get your facts right before posting.

Sorry, mate. You're right. It just read funny to me. The real disgrace is that it toook RTE coming down and doing their own testing for the fact the Oughterard is the source of this problem to come to light.


I'm living in Galway so I'm pretty keen on this getting sorted out asap. D. Roche's approach to this is a disgrace. FF look like they're realising there's a seat up for grabs all of a sudden and are trying to make a scapegoat of O'Brolchain when it seems to be at the DoE's door.


You seem to have the inside track on this, so anything new on how long this is going to last? From the local papers and radio, it soundslike end of the summer before I can brush my teeth with water straight out of the tap.

[ECSquared]

Roche's attitude was an another example of the arrogance of this government and is another reason to give them a bit of time cooling on the opposition benches.


And dont mind that s**te about economic policies, FF have no idea (with the exception of lowcorpration tax) on how the economies growth was so strong. Low corporation tax was the reason and after that it was an accident of economics. Now that its all going to s**te, they have no idea how to turn it around. Not saying FG/Labour do either but it cant do any harm. I believe Inda is fundamentally honest and has some sound policies. One issue with them if its FG/Labour/Greens then it might be hard for them to get things done, having said that it would probably have to be FF/PD/Greens on the other side the way this election looks like going, same problem.Its a pity FG dont have a leader who has captured the public imagination more, thats what this election will come down to, who has the better media presence, I dont think most of the electorate really care about the policies.

[An Fear Bolg]

I heard recently that the Greens came out and said they would find it difficult to enter a coalition with FF. (Dunno if that's true or not, word of mouth) If that's true, a lot of floaters are going to be looking at the Greens this year at least for their lower choices on the ballot (I know a lotofpeople who plan to give the Greens their 2nd or 3rd once they've votedfor whoever) and FF's goose may well be cooked.


Unfortunately for FG, EK just doesn't have the presence for an election campaign. He always looks to me like he's calculating how many votes the photo op is going to get him when he's smiling for the camera!

[Old Dog]

Meanwhile, a staff embargo initiated by the Department of the Environment was being blamed last night for Galway's water-contamination woes.


"The embargo on staff drained the city council and local authorities of experienced staff," said independent councillor Catherine Connolly.


A spokesperson for the Department of the Finance said that the number of staff allocated was due to a cap on public servants initiated in the 2003 Budget.

And remember - this is exactly the same crowd of gobshites who will be paying more than 3,000redundantpublic servants in Dublin when Bertie'sinsane Public Service Decentralisation Programme is complete.


Anyone who votes for Fianna Fáil in the coming election is a complete moron.

[Old Dog]

I heard recently that the Greens came out and said they would find it difficult to enter a coalition with FF. (Dunno if that's true or not, word of mouth) If that's true, a lot of floaters are going to be looking at the Greens this year at least for their lower choices on the ballot (I know a lotofpeople who plan to give the Greens their 2nd or 3rd once they've votedfor whoever) and FF's goose may well be cooked.

The Greens went further - they said that there was no way that they'd contemplate any arrangement with FF unless gobshites like Dick Roach, Fartin Cullen and Nowell Dempsey were removed from office.


A pity they didn't add a couple of other clowns to the list, but even removing those 3 would improve things no end. Of course the big question is, who will Bertie (or Inda) give the Health portfolio to next!

[McCloud]

Roche washs his hands and say not my fault.[img]smileys/mad.gif[/img]





Roche lays the blame over water crisis
Thursday, 12 April 2007 12:02
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has said that disastrous mistakes by management were to blame for the Galway water crisis.


The minister said the mistakes were made over a number of years.


He said he did not understand why clean water is not being delivered into households at this stage.


Minister Roche added that he has offered every resource available to deal with the cryptosporidium outbreak.


Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Today with Tom McGurk, the Minister was reluctant to get drawn into a debate about who was responsible, but agreed that if no-one was held to account, the crisis could happen again.

[ECSquared]

One interesting thing that Bertie did say in the Examiner last week is that the greens are getting an election bounce based on the increased awareness of enviomental issues and not because of anything specific in their polices. It does make sense, I dont know of any particularly genius green party policies that would incline me to vote for them over say a FG or Labour candidate. Interestingly enough the only place the Greens actually got power, Germany, they are now being hammered. He implied that that was because they are crap when they actually get into power, he would say that of course but it is a valid enough viewpoint I suppose.

[An Fear Bolg]

Roche washs his hands and say not my fault.[img]smileys/mad.gif[/img]





Roche lays the blame over water crisis
Thursday, 12 April 2007 12:02
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has said that disastrous mistakes by management were to blame for the Galway water crisis.


The minister said the mistakes were made over a number of years.


He said he did not understand why clean water is not being delivered into households at this stage.


Minister Roche added that he has offered every resource available to deal with the cryptosporidium outbreak.


Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Today with Tom McGurk, the Minister was reluctant to get drawn into a debate about who was responsible, but agreed that if no-one was held to account, the crisis could happen again.

Are the unelected city managers not answerable to anybody? Is the Dept. of Environment not able to oversee and direct the overall planning of Galway's water system 'over a number of years'? Sounds like it's not sticking to O'Brol, so he's moved the scapegoat detector on to a new target.

[An Fear Bolg]

One interesting thing that Bertie did say in the Examiner last week is that the greens are getting an election bounce based on the increased awareness of enviomental issues and not because of anything specific in their polices. It does make sense, I dont know of any particularly genius green party policies that would incline me to vote for them over say a FG or Labour candidate. Interestingly enough the only place the Greens actually got power, Germany, they are now being hammered. He implied that that was because they are crap when they actually get into power, he would say that of course but it is a valid enough viewpoint I suppose.

I'd like to see the greens as a minor proportion of a coalition, not in a situation of complete power, a la Germany, because I think in a number of areas (transport, sustainable energy vs fossil/biofuel, environment) they are strong and have been campaigning on the strength of these issues since the party's inception as opposed to attempting to jump on the latest hot button (or the FF approach of calling anyone who mentions environmental impact a hippy. [img]smileys/lol.gif[/img]). But in a lot of areas, their policies are a bit weak and unrealistic.

[munsterforever]

saw roche on miriams show-what an arrogant pr**k who wouldnt let the other man speak-he would be laughed out of politics in england and isnt talented enough for a seat on grimsby north parish council.

as for the 2 for 1 offer-what a pisstake

supervalu do that deal anyway

[McCloud]

12/04/2007 - 2:14:54 PM


Galway mayor: Buck stops with Roche on water crisis :: latest


The Green Party Mayor of Galway City Cllr Niall Ó Brolcháin today said that Minister Roche cannot avoid blame over the fiasco that has left 90,000 Galway residents without a clean water supply for almost a month.


Mr Ó Brolcháin said: "The Minister said that disastrous mistakes made by Council management over a number of years caused this crisis.


"Dick Roche seems to be forgetting that, as the minister responsible for local government, those same officials on whom he is now trying to lay blame, are answerable to him, and to him alone. The buck ultimately stops with Minister Roche.


"There is no doubt that the unelected officials in charge of capital spending – and the infamous €21.5m designated for the upgrade of the Terryland water treatment plant – have dragged their feet.



"If we look at the probable causes of the cryptosporidium outbreak, rather than focussing solely on Galway's grossly inadequate water treatment facilities, it becomes even more evident that the fingerprints of Minister Roche and his cabinet colleagues are all over this mess.


"Water quality in Lough Corrib, which is the source of Galway City's water supply, has been continuously and seriously degraded over the lifetime of this Government."

[Arthur Guinness]

Is he saying "Yeah,sure we made a balls of it but he's the Minister so it's all his fault really"?

[An Fear Bolg]

In fairness to Niall O'B he's been banging on about the water quality for a few years, well before he was made mayor. Dunno if he has done much about it since he started wearing the chains, though.

Is he saying "Yeah,sure we made a balls of it but he's the Minister so it's all his fault really"?

No, he's not. He's the Mayor, but he has no power over the unelected officials in City Hall. Local politicians in Ireland are powerless. Real power on local issues rests with the officials (e.g. city manager, city engineer, etc.) and national government.

[mike11]

......


.....how long this is going to last? From the local papers and radio, it soundslike end of the summer before I can brush my teeth with water straight out of the tap.

How long? How long is a piece of string?


Roche is not what we call a dooer in business; he's more interested in trying to find a scapegoat - anyone but himself (who is the person actually responsible...). Basically we have 2 problems - 1. the source (Corrib) is seriously polluted; 2. The treatment plant is not designed to deal with crypto. Roche is in denial about the first; he has previously blocked progress (despite his saying the opposite) for the replacing/upgrading the second.


you'll see no progress on this or any pollution related issue while that idiot is in power.


The pollution problem has been there (&amp; growing) for about 30 years. The present structures and systems are doing nothing to help. Those who realise that we have a problem and the extent of it are being trivialised (Roche is on record saying they are eco nutters and there is no problem). It's a bit like the flat-earthers continuing to deny we have some sort of climate change issue happening in the world today (without going into cause).


Your question - will you be confident of drinking the water out ouf your tap in 3 months? Well, they've had the problem for 3 years in Ennis, and now the media have got tired of it and they're told to live with it.... You should also note that is very fixable - they fixed a far bigger problem in Illinois in 10 days (about 15 years ago and the technology has moved on, so in theory we should be able to fix it in hours if we were as technologically advanced as Bertie boasts).


If I were you I'd enquire about a home treatment unit (make sure it's got carbon filtration and either ozone or UV unit built in; certain membrane units might also work).


We might get some progress if there is a change of government; but is that likely given voter apathy and the FF machine in action buying itself another term lining the pockets of themselves and their frends at our expense?


---------


As a footnote - the problem is that the stage of the parasite that is in the wateris what is known an oocyst - (oo for egg), and that coating makes it resistant to most chemical treatments (poisoning). You have to make the water poisonous to humans before you're going to dent the tough coat on the parasite, even then most of it will get through.


You also know that other bacterial levels rise as water temps rise - so expect the problem to get worse thro the summer and onwards.


And for whoever suggested sinking a well - most groundwater in Ireland is polluted (we are among the worst in the world in this regard); in a town you'll have industrial pollutants (but I have a friend who has a well in his back garden in Chelsea - he pays the water company for the privilege), in farmland it'sfrom our practices thro the years.Basically the well will be OK if you're in a remote area; otherwise you'll have to install your own treatment plant.